Jena Malone might be best known to film fans for her decades-spanning body of acting work (someone who starts with the kind of singular performance a pint-sized Malone put on in the heart-wrenching “Bastard Out of Carolina” is clearly someone formidable), but the star of everything from “The Hunger Games” and “Pride & Prejudice” to “Sucker Punch” and “The Neon Demon” is in possession of another talent: music.
And while real ones surely know that Malone has been making music for nearly two decades, her latest effort seems poised to introduce her to a brand-new fanbase. Malone’s new album (her first in over a decade, and the first to be put out only under her name) includes her brand-new single “Barstow,” which you can listen to (and watch!) below, care of dreamy, neon-laced music video directed by Jennifer Reeder and starring Malone and Robin Tunney.
The song is the first single of Malone’s just-announced new album, “Flowers for Men,” which will be released on May 8 via her own imprint There Was an Old Woman Records. (You can pre-save the album here.) Malone has also announced a run of live shows to support the album, which kicks off in June with a performance at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco, before stopping in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, and more.
Fans of the lauded actress’ singing will find plenty familiar here amongst the dreamy, synth-y atmosphere, which should also appeal to newcomers to Malone’s other big talent.
“It’s wild how long I’ve been making music and how nervous and excited I still am about it all,” Malone told IndieWire. “It’s been almost ten years since I released any music, so it’s a glorious feeling to feel like a kid again. This album was a long time coming for me for sure. I went through the fire of transformation after having a child and everything asked to be reexamined. I no longer had time to make music like I used to, so I started writing and arranging songs on my iPhone, while I hid in closets and waited in drop-off lines at school. This record emerge from stolen moments.”
The music video, written and directed by Reeder, features a road-tripping Malone who meets (encounters? revisits? choose your own adventure) a kindred spirit along the way, played by Robin Tunney. We won’t spoil too much about their bond before you can watch it.
“‘Barstow’ is my favorite song on the record. I know it’s strange to say that,” she said. “But after I wrote the first draft of the song, it haunted me like no other. Felt like a song I had been longing to write since I was a kid. Jamie Jackson [the producer and co-writer of the record] came in and helped me bring the song to life in such a beautiful way. It was the first song we started with. Some stories/songs are like that. They emerge so potent and emblematic of the record that I knew it had to come out first.”
While the music video marks Malone and Reeder’s first collaboration, their simpatico tastes and nature are clear. When asked why she knew Reeder was the first filmmaker for the job, she was effusive. “She was the only pick! I only discovered her work in 2023 and was an instant fan,” Malone said. “Her films ‘Knives and Skin’ and ‘Perpetrator’ are so fucking incredible. She is so amazing at world making that feels familiar and full of risk! We [met] for an upcoming project and very quickly found the conversation moving to music and art and creations. I sent her an early version of the album and it was just an instant hell yes all around.”
Malone also hailed Reeder’s team, including Sevdije Kastrati-Dill (“a batshit crazy talented DP”) and Mike Olenick, Reeder’s “incredible long-time editor and colorist.” That excitement also extended to her screen partner, fellow actress (and horror icon) Robin Tunney. Malone said she has long been a fan of “The Craft” star and she loved that their “paths crossed and you get to work and collaborate together and getting to know them lifts their work up higher.”
You can check out the full music video for Malone’s “Barstow,” an IndieWire exclusive, below.
