Photo by Briana Da Silva
There’s something to be said when legacy bands take notice of younger acts that represent a new generation of music listeners. Australia’s Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers (seriously, how great is that band name?!?) are still so early in their career – an EP, a debut full-length, a deluxe version of that full-length with added tracks and, now, a brand new sophomore effort – yet have already adorned arena and stadium stages in both in their home country as well as in the U.S. supporting bands like the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam. While it wasn’t a goal early on for Anna Ryan, Scarlett McKahey, Jaida Stephenson, and Neve van Boxsel to become the biggest rock band in the world, the experience of playing these huge stages has translated to recorded material and set a course for the future.
Glory is a powerful declaration of what the album represents. It finds an already mature band confidently expediting their trajectory with material that sounds huge and glorious. Teen Jesus have met the challenge of writing hook-filled anthems ready to be performed on not only the biggest stages in the world but in more intimate and cozy venues that the band finds themselves when not touring with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame caliber bands. Grammy-winning producer Catherine Marks has an impressive resume, having worked with artists ranging from boygenius to Wolf Alice, and amplifies the talents of each of Teen Jesus’s members while pushing the band to experiment (within reason) and shoot their shot.
The album’s diversity is its core strength, fueled by four contributing members whose individual voices shine while also allowing the power of full-band collaboration. Glory is an unrelenting, thirty-minute pleasure of ten tracks: no wasted time, no filler. This lean runtime packs a wide spectrum of sound: from big, aggressive rockers in the spirit of the Arctic Monkeys and The Mysterines (“Watching Me Leave,” “Mine”), to witty, minimalist indie pop numbers akin to Wet Leg (“Balcony,” “Bait”), and dramatic, maximalist theatrics similar to The Last Dinner Party (the powerful “Daylight” and the delightfully twangy “Mother”).
Even accounting for recency bias, Glory arrived so late in the year, yet it’s such an infectious and relentless listen, packed with earworms that demand repeated plays, that it’s destined for many year-end lists (mine included).
On Halloween, bassist Jaida Stevenson took the time to join me from Australia to discuss songwriting, timelines, and fortune.
Does Australia celebrate Halloween?
JAIDA: Kind of. It’s gotten a lot bigger. When I was growing up, it was very small. I think we all knew about it, and some suburbs would do trick-or-treating, but not all of them. Now, in 2025, I’d say it’s pretty celebrated, it’s quite big. It’s not as big as it would be in America, it’s not everywhere, and there aren’t decorations everywhere, but it’s definitely become more of a thing here.
Are you going to a Halloween party tonight?
JAIDA: I went to one last weekend, and then I was meant to go to one tonight and one tomorrow, but my partner and I are running a marathon tomorrow, so we have to not do anything, unfortunately.
When I got a link to stream Glory, I listened to it twice in a row, which I never do with the first listen of an album. I was out running and it really just helped fuel me. The second time, I put it on shuffle just to get a different take on the songs. The whole thing is about 30 minutes long which is easy to do twice in a row when all the songs are so good.
JAIDA: Oh, thank you so much. That’s honestly such a big compliment. I feel like it really is an album you should listen to whilst exercising, which sounds silly, but I have a few albums that I have on rotation if I go for a run or go to the gym, so I’m happy that that’s made it into yours.
Do you listen to playlists or full albums when you run?
JAIDA: Playlists sometimes, but usually full albums.
What is something right now that’s getting you running?
JAIDA: Always Turnstile, like Glow On, the older album, but also the newer one. Weirdly, Magdalena Bay’s most recent album, it’s not even that upbeat, it’s just something about it keeps me going, I guess. And then, there’s a band called Fcukers from New York.
I saw Turnstile about three weeks ago. It was amazing.
JAIDA: I saw them a couple years ago, and I reckon it was the best show of my life to date. They’re coming over New Year’s, so I’m trying to get tickets.
You’re right that Magdalena Bay has a totally different vibe. I listen to that album and I picture myself in a high-rise beach condo in Miami, looking out over the city and the ocean at night with all the lights.
JAIDA: That’s a perfect description of where you want to be, and the sun setting.
What I love about Glory is that each of the first few songs present a different part of Teen Jesus. You come out strong with a big rock song to open the album, “Watching Me Leave”. The second song, “Balcony,” reminds me of Wet Leg. And then “Turn Around” settles in with a mid-tempo pace. Does everyone in the band write songs and is this a reflection of that? How do those songs sound so different but retain the Teen Jesus sound?
JAIDA: That’s a really interesting question. We all kind of write. I’d say the main songwriters are Scarlett, and Anna, but then I’ve written a couple songs on albums, Neve’s contributed to a lot. I think it kind of works like that because we do co-write together, where we’ll all come together in a room, and we’ll figure out the parts, or we’ll do a co-write with someone else. But I would say 75% of the time when we write songs by ourselves, we’re writing these heartfelt songs straight from the heart, which are a little bit slower and a little bit chiller. I think those are a very special part of our music because, even though the upbeat songs are awesome, we really like to get vulnerable and express how we’re feeling as well, so kind of mixing them in.
I also remember a big part of it was our first EP, Pretty Good for a Girl Band. I feel like every song on that was quite heavy and hard, which we loved, but I remember us having a discussion after that, where we were like, “We want to play more than just this heavy, hard music. We want to be a band that has these diverse elements to it.” So we really focused on trying to have interesting parts and interesting dynamics, with loud and soft songs as well.
Is the heavy, hard, early stuff more because you were learning how to play and just starting out, or was that what you were into at the time?
JAIDA: I’d say a combination of both. Also, I think that you kind of learn that less is more sometimes. With the earlier stuff, it would be a pretty heart-wrenching song, but it would be, “Let’s add 25 guitars to it and put a fuzz pedal on.” Now, we’ve learned how to tone it back, or have extra parts in there, but not swamp the song with this raw, loud sound.
Who writes the lyrics? Do you all take turns?
JAIDA: We all take turns. “Watching Me Leave” and “Balcony” were co-written by Scarlett. “Turn Around” was also Scarlett with a co-writer. Scarlett is definitely the most primary songwriter. “Talking,” I wrote with Anna and Campbell from Vacations.
In terms of the vulnerable lyrics, is that each person writing their own, or is it one person writing all of those type of lyrics?
JAIDA: It is kind of each person writing their own vulnerable lyrics, but I would say Scarlett was the main songwriter for this album. For previous stuff, Anna has been the main songwriter, so it’s changed. There are a few on there, like “Daylight,” which is one that Anna wrote, that’s literally just a love song, but it’s got some of the rawest lyrics of a love song ever. It’s really straight from the heart, it’s really good.
Are there certain things that you’ve got guarded off that you won’t write about? Do you ever feel too vulnerable?
JAIDA: I think so, but then I honestly think that we bring it to the band, and we just tell everyone else that it’s about something completely different. We all know. Like, someone will go through a breakup with someone with blue hair, and the lyrics will be, “I hate that girl with the blue hair.” We’ll be like, “What’s this about?” And they’ll be like, “Oh, it’s just about, you know, when you’re feeling sad about school.” We kind of make up a different meaning to it to hide the actual meaning. I think we can all tell, but sometimes you don’t want to tell the world that you’ve written a song about something so specific, or if it’s about people who are close to you, and you don’t want to hurt them.
Do you write songs that somebody out there is listening to and saying, “Oh, that’s about me?” Are there songs that other people outside of the band will hear and be like, “I know?”
JAIDA: Oh, yeah, 100%. There’s one song, I think it was “Unscarred,” that is written about a specific person. We were on national radio in Australia, and they were like, “Who’s it about? Shout them out!” And we were like, “We’re not doing that.” They know it’s about them, obviously. It’s a nice song about them.
There are some specific moments in specific songs where songs take a twist. It’s just little things, countermelodies and such. Like, on “Turn Around,” what I think of as the pre-chorus, it’s just a subtle, “Come on baby, turn around.” Or, on “Talking,” there’s the “And if you try a little harder” line, again, in what I think of as the pre-chorus, that is a little shot of adrenaline. I’m obviously not a songwriter. Does that just come naturally or do you say, “We need to put something in here to break it up?”
JAIDA: I think it’s a mix. A lot of the time, we sometimes write songs in increments. We’ll write a verse, and then we’ll be like, “Oh, I need a chorus,” and kind of be playing around and come up with a chorus. The chorus and the verse might not fit, so then we’ve got to try and figure out how to make it fit. There’s not many times that I’m playing along and all of a sudden my brain just flows onto the chorus, and it’s this incredible thing. It’s usually written quite separately, and then you have to piece the pieces together. I remember there was one of the songs on the deluxe that was a co-write, and we had about 20 different parts, and we were like, “We need to throw some out,” because this is not working.
I watched The Beatles documentary and saw they were taking two or three different pieces from different songs and putting them together into one song. Is that how some of these songs came together?
JAIDA: 100%, yeah. Especially in the studio. We’ll come up with parts where there’s a lot of synths and extra bits on this album. There’s this static noise at the beginning of “Talking,” and that’s just taken from another song. We just put some distortion on one of the parts and chucked it over to “Talking.”
I interviewed Daisy the Great. Their producer, Catherine Marks, said she saw their vision of wanting all the songs to be playable live and have them sound the same way live as they are recorded. Catherine produced Glory. Was that your experience with her as well?
JAIDA: I think we had a slightly different experience because we’ve wanted that for our previous albums. For this album, we were kind of like, “Let’s go crazy with it.” We were like, “Add it in, and then we can figure out how to emulate that live.” Previous albums, we’ve kind of been like, “We’ve only got two guitars, one bass, drums, that’s all we’ve got.” But now we’re kind of like, “You want to put a harp synth part in there? We’ll just get a harp synth on stage that we can play.” We’re trying to adapt to the music and learn how to play that live, a different approach to our previous stuff.
A metal band I interviewed said there are songs in their catalog that they had written and recorded, but never played live because there was no way they could duplicate that live. Have you played every song live that you have put out? Will all the songs on this record at some point get played live?
JAIDA: I’d say hopefully, yeah. I think we can all play them all live. With us, it’s less about if we can’t emulate it live and more that it’s just less low on our priority list, if that makes sense? There’s a few songs that we’ve released in the past, and we still love them, but you’ve only got an hour long set and so many songs to fill the set, so we never play them.
You have your whole life to write your first record, and then the second record comes super fast. Was the pressure for a second record internal pressure, or was it management, label, or publicist?
JAIDA: I think it was a little bit of both. Our record label was definitely like, “We would love for you guys to put a record out soon.” We spent last year releasing our deluxe, but even the singles on the deluxe we’ve been sitting on for the past two years, so we were definitely ready to release some new music. If it wasn’t an album, it would have been an EP. The label wanted an album, we wanted to put new music out, so we worked together to release this.
The timeline for writing and recording all was within the last two years?
JAIDA: The timeline for writing and recording was a very quick turnaround. Writing was throughout last year, co-writes. We’re not the kind to go in and write 10 songs in 10 days and then record them. We would take our time writing, but then we recorded them in March to April. We stayed on-site at The Grove, which is a quite incredible, famous studio in Australia. We stayed there for six weeks, recorded the album, and it’s out in November. That March to November turnaround is pretty crazy for an album.
You’re driven by timelines: first single by June, second single by July, then press, videos, album pressing. That must add stress.
JAIDA: It definitely does add stress. Luckily, our management and label are lovely, as much as they’re also doing their job and trying to do everything as efficiently as possible. There have been times where they’ll be like, “Oh, we need to get this song out by this time,” and we’re like, “That’s not going to happen. Can’t do that, sorry about it, but that’s not happening.” And they’re understanding of that; they know if we could do it, we would say yes. With the album release, it has been a bit of a hectic couple of weeks, but obviously that’s to be expected. Even if we took our time and it was releasing next year, it’d still be the same thing.
“Watching Me Leave” is such a great kickoff. Was that intentional, to put that first and not release it as a single, so that when people hear the album for the first time, you’re giving them something new?
JAIDA: I don’t know, I think it just slotted into that opening slot so well. But I agree with you, that was so nearly a single, like, it was so close. I think it was between “Watching Me Leave” and “Wonderful,” which is going to be a single for the album. I think the decision came down to, we had a few heavy songs out already, and “Wonderful” has our favorite lyrics on the album, so we wanted to release that. I do really hope people find some gems in the album. I think “Watching Me Leave” is definitely one of the best songs, and I love that if people listen to the album, if they get two songs in, they’ll still listen to “Watching Me Leave,” which is great.
Was the album always intended to come out in November? You played dates with Pearl Jam before the album came out so wondering if maybe you had hoped to release it earlier? While maybe not a big deal, by putting it out in November, it probably won’t top a lot of Spotify Wrapped chats. But, the other side of that is that it’ll be fresh on people’s minds as the year comes to an end and they’re putting together “Favorite Albums of 2025”.
JAIDA: It kind of flip-flopped a bit. Originally it was October, then it was February 2026, and then it went back to November. The reason why was because we were meant to be playing Austin City Limits this year, which would have been incredible, but we were going to try and do some album press while we were over in America, because it’s very expensive and a lot of effort to fly from Australia to America. Then we had to pull out of that, unfortunately, but I think the November date still really worked. We have a few big things coming up at the start of next year, so it kind of just preps us for the beginning of next year. February felt too far away, and October was too soon, so November felt right.
I love that Pearl Jam is introducing newer bands to their audiences. How did you end up on that tour?
JAIDA: Well, apparently they picked us, which is incredible. As far as I know, with these big shows, the booking agent will kind of pick a select bunch of acts. We got picked to open for Pearl Jam when they came over to Australia, and then they took us to America. I think the reason they took us to America was because we met them in Australia. For those original Australian shows, I think a lot of the time they pitch five or ten acts from Australia, and they go, “Which one’s your favorite?” So, I would assume that we were probably picked by the booking agent as one of those bands, and then they chose us, which was really awesome.
I watched some tour diary vlogs you posted on YouTube and it looked like Eddie really was into you. He called you out on stage and even had the band join on stage to perform “Rocking in the Free World” a few times.
JAIDA: It was actually insane. They were so nice, so down-to-earth. I can’t believe you can be that big and that successful in your career and still be the nicest people. They wouldn’t watch every show, we couldn’t watch every show of theirs, but we would see them side of stage, and they’d be wearing our merch. We’d come off, and they’d be like, “That was incredible,” and just so supportive. They would always talk to us and always wave and smile. We’ve been on tour with bands that are a lot smaller than Pearl Jam, and their egos are so big, and they won’t even talk to us. The fact that they’re the biggest band in the world and have so much time for their support act, and also so much time for everyone on the tour, all the staff, all the people working on that tour, you could tell that they were all friends with the band. It was their whole touring party.
Who was more excited about the Pearl Jam tour, you or your parents?
JAIDA: Obviously me, because I’m doing it, but my parents were pretty stoked, pretty, pretty stoked. I definitely grew up listening to Pearl Jam, but my parents were freaking out a little bit. They’re big Eddie Vedder fans, big Pearl Jam fans, same with everyone else’s parents in the band. They were freaking out a little bit. They were gonna fly over to America just to see the show. They only had a window of five days, and they were like, “We’ll fly over, we’ll go to three of the shows,” and I was like, “That’s a lot of time and money.”
Did they make it?
JAIDA: They didn’t make it, no. Anna’s parents got to go, though, which was cool.
Do you prefer touring smaller venues with people your own age that you can hang out with, or hanging out with guys my age?
JAIDA: It’s incomparable; it feels like two completely different things. The Pearl Jam tour was so fun and so insane, but it wasn’t any show you’ve ever played before because you’re going through a security check-in, everyone’s got lanyards on, and there’s catering. It’s very different to rocking up to your local 500-person venue. I think they’re both amazing, both super fun. I love that we’re able to do both. Those bigger shows are awesome, and it makes it feel a lot more like a career, which is really cool. But then the smaller shows are sometimes the fun party nights, and the more intimate shows where all the fans know your lyrics and everything. It’s definitely a different experience, but incomparable.
What do you hope your legacy is? Do you hope that you’ll be like Pearl Jam in 20, 25, 30 years, still playing? Is that a realistic dream in your head, or are you just looking at getting the record out?
JAIDA: Kind of more like the latter. When we started out, we never had this goal or idea of being the biggest band in the world, or even getting to what we have. It was never something that we were like, “We gotta make it, guys, we’re gonna make it.” Our goal was always, “Have fun, play some shows with our best friends, get free drinks on the rider.” That was our ethos when we started, and it’s kind of stayed like that. It’s definitely turned into more of a job; we’re all a lot more serious about it and there are logistics around it now. But at the end of the day, we started this to have fun, and the moment we stop having fun is the moment that we’ll stop doing it, because that’s the most important part, that we stay friends and have a good time.
Thinking about your generation of bands, who do you think will last the test of time and still be around in 20 or 30 years the way Pearl Jam is for my generation?
JAIDA: For me, and I would say most of the rest of the band as well, Arctic Monkeys were that band. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard, because I think that they were maybe more the Millennial generation, rather than Gen Z, our generation. But I grew up with Arctic Monkeys, they’re my number one band, I am so obsessed. I think that they will forever be a legacy act, I reckon. But for that post-Arctic Monkeys era, that post-2010s bands, I think it’s Fontaines D.C. They’re on a trajectory to be one of the biggest bands in the world, and I think that people are going to look back and see Fontaines in that same light.
I think about somebody like Billie Eilish. I see her as being somebody that will still be around 20 years from now.
JAIDA: Oh, yeah, 100%. I think everyone’s noticed it, but there are a lot more solo artists than bands nowadays, so it’s a funny question. If we talk about solo artists, there are a lot of people that would probably still be around. Band-wise, I think it’s become more of a niche listening group, rather than before, when it was the majority.
If your label came to you tomorrow and said, “In this interim between the second and third record, we want each of you to do a solo record,” what do you think the style would be? Would they sound like what you’re doing now, or would you each make something different?
JAIDA: Well, Neve, our drummer, has done a solo project, and their stuff is more beabadoobee, that indie world. I feel like Anna would go Alanis Morissette style: power ballads, raw, emotional. Scarlett would probably start a punk project, I would say, like short, fast, loud. And then I feel like I’m a little bit of a chill, indie person who’s playing in a rock band. I’m a big Faye Webster, Julia Jacklin fan, so I would inevitably go in that direction. When I write songs with the band, they usually sound like that, and they kind of get contorted into a more rockier sound.
Is it true that the band is split up into two different parts of Australia?
JAIDA: Yeah. Me and Scarlett, the guitarist, are in Canberra at the moment, which is the capital of Australia, and it’s three hours below Sydney, inland. Neve and Anna are in Melbourne, which is the bottom of Australia, so we’re a seven-hour drive apart, or an hour flight. Touring-wise here, you have to fly, you don’t drive, unless you’re starting out and have no money. Everything’s too far apart, so you have to fly. Flights are not super cheap, but you can get a flight from Sydney to Melbourne for, like, 100 bucks.
So how do you practice and rehearse?
JAIDA: Usually, if we have a show coming up, we’ll come together and do like a week’s worth of practice beforehand.
Do you go to them, or do they come to you?
JAIDA: Usually we’ll go to them because Melbourne is a bigger city; it’s got a lot more rehearsal spaces. Melbourne’s kind of the live music capital of Australia, so there are a lot of rehearsal spaces and gear and everything. Canberra doesn’t.
Did you all grow up there? How did you meet?
JAIDA: Yeah, we went to Steiner schools. It’s just an alternative school. We all went there. Anna and Neve met in the sandpit in kindergarten, and me and Scarlett moved in around year two and three, so we just all went to the same school.
What song takes you back to a specific memory or situation?
JAIDA: I would say Gwen Stefani, kind of the whole Love Angel Music Baby album, but I would say, specifically, “Sweet Escape.” My mom had this on CD, and I used to dance on my living room table. I’d put on a show for my parents, put on the CD, and every time I hear that whole album, but specifically “The Sweet Escape,” that’s what I think of.
That is awesome. Have you met her?
JAIDA: I have never met her, but I would really like to. That would be a dream. She’s a big idol of mine.
You said you have plans for next year, and I know coming to the U.S. is not easy. Are you going to be coming back to the U.S.?
JAIDA: Definitely will be coming back, but we’re still working out the plans, so I don’t know when. We haven’t locked anything in yet.
