Close Reading with Jack Ladder
Edition Nine
You are about to read the ninth edition of Close Reading, a dispatch of literary obsessions, published by Woolgather. Each edition features a guest writer who shares one word, one quote, one poem, one book, and “one other thing”. This edition is by Jack Ladder, a songwriter, composer, musician, and producer.
Jack Ladder is one of Australia’s most distinctive singer-songwriters, bringing a towering baritone, sardonic humour, and a gift for musical narrative that now spans almost two decades. Sentimental and surreal in equal measure, his work ranges from the mournful to the hopeful to the confessional.
He has released eight albums of original songs since 2005: Not Worth Waiting For, Love Is Gone, Hurtsville, Playmates, Blue Poles, Hijack!, Tall Pop Syndrome, and most recently Separation Rock (2025), which he describes as the album he has been waiting his whole life to make. Recorded over four days at Valentine Studios in North Hollywood with producer Zach Dawes, it features contributions from Jay Bellerose, Sharon Van Etten, Alex Cameron, and pedal steel from Nashville legend Russ Pahl.
In addition to his discography, he has toured and collaborated with Bill Callahan, Angel Olsen, John Cale, Sharon Van Etten, Father John Misty, Weyes Blood, Florence & The Machine, and The Killers, among others.
In this edition, Jack shares words of poetry, classical music, and life in the arts.
Illustration by Lachlan Conn
One Word:
Brobdingnagian
Brought to my attention by of all people, a music publicist. Showing off, he decided to use it as the opening word for a press release for my record Tall Pop Syndrome. A bold move by music standards. I was thrilled. Worth every cent. Unfortunately, like most things in the music biz it fell on deaf ears. Meaning colossal or gigantic, it’s derived from Brobdingnag – the land of the giants in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. It’s fun to say and it looks great, the 'bd' rarely seen in English rub against each other nicely.
One Quote:
Sylvia Plath
”I am both worse and better than you thought. I am not even a person. I am a collection of contradictions”.
This came up the other day and hit hard. I'm involved in a record label with my dear friend and band mate Kirin J Callinan named Worse Records and quotes involving the word worse seem to enter our orbit more and more frequently. It seemed to sum up my whole approach to music and the artists and writers that’ve inspired me. I would take it a step further and say – to be the best, one must also be the worst – to embody both things at once, that’s the goal.
One Poem:
And Suddenly it’s Evening
Everyone is alone on the heart of the earth
pierced by a ray of sun:
and suddenly it’s evening
— Salvatore Quasimodo
I read this flicking through second hand books a lifetime ago and decided to take it home. I didn’t know anything about Quasimodo and only just now did I look up his picture. He has a mustache and I can see that now in the rough sketch on the collected poems edition. I read that he was hermetic and so I decided not to go after him. He comes to me sometimes and I’ll pick him up and have a flick through. Always relevant and revelatory.
One Book:
The Time of the Assassins
I stole the book The Time of the Assassins: A Study of Arthur Rimbaud by Henry Miller from my brother. It was sitting on his coffee table for a while untouched. I read it once and then I read it again. I think I’ve only done that twice. The other was Bill Callahan’s Letters For Emma Bowlcut. It helps if they’re short. I’m a tall man that likes short books. This book is a compare and contrast between the life of the author and the French poet Rimbaud. There are a lot of contrasts, their lives seemingly happening in reverse. The main thing is the way he talks about being a writer and lengths they must go to. I’d say it should be in the curriculum for anyone who is considering a life in the arts. Both inspiring and a warning.
One Other Thing:
The piano music of Frederic Mompou
Like just about everyone else, I enjoy listening to solo piano music. It’s big business. The trouble is a lot of it is sentimental dross that’s been overplayed and used to put babies to sleep. I was looking for the perfect kind: minimal but not Arvo Part; angular but not Shostakovich; melodic but not Chopin. And so my pal and ECM enthusiast Laurence Pike recommended Spanish composer Frederic Mompou. Maybe he’ll be right for you too. Start with Música Callada performed by Herbert Henck.