Jacob Aranda

Jacob Aranda

War Planes

Speakeasy Studios SF

Jacob Aranda is a Mexican American Bay Area singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, luthier and member of Bay Area psych-folk group Tarnation. His new album War Planes is his second solo album. Aranda’s first solo full-length album, Great Highway (2018), was described by critics as “timeless” (KWMR), “full of beautiful, mellow countryscapes” (Bay Bridged), and “charming, warm and melancholic, with elements and influences that range from classic country to Southwestern-influenced folk” (Sound Thread). Born and raised in a Latino household in rural Illinois, the culture of Aranda’s upbringing and the necessary resourcefulness of rural living birthed in him an artistic desire to express himself through music. While his first album was an expression of hopelessness and longing, War Planes is fundamentally an album about healing intergenerational trauma and doing so through art. The album feels like a next chapter with elements of rebirth and reflection. Songs of hope, such as “Sing A Song, Say A Prayer” and “Glass Building” demonstrate movement forward, while tracks such as “Dream Of Mexico” and the title track “War Planes” represent a way to look back into underlying issues and the inherited trauma that had once made Aranda feel so alone. Produced and engineered by Desmond Shea (Tarnation, The Court And Spark) at SF’s legendary Hyde Street Studios, War Planes features the talents of friends and Tarnation bandmates, Paula Frazer (bass, vocals), David Cuetter (pedal steel), Sam Berman (drums), Patrick Main (piano, vocals), and Meryl Theo Press (vocals). Also joining the sessions were musicians Alisa Rose...