When she sent her new musical collaborator a voice memo from her bathtub of suggestions for the song he’d shown her earlier that day, Jane Ellen Bryant thought, “He’s gonna think I’m insane – we’ve barely known each other for five minutes.” Seven years and a marriage later, giving each other feedback has gotten considerably easier.
Formerly solely working respectively as Jane Ellen Bryant and Leopold & His Fiction, Bryant and Daniel Leo released their self-titled debut as noir synth-pop duo Jane Leo in 2023. They wrote and tested its follow-up, September’s Creature of Destruction, during an exciting three years where they went on their first tour together, got engaged, and swapped vows. Across nine tracks (and one epic vinyl-exclusive bonus track), which they’re celebrating with an album release party on Nov. 6 at Empire Control Room, the couple sounds more confident inflecting their disco dance tunes with Bryant’s trademark sass.
“Our first record was written during COVID and before we’d even played a show together. So, it was cool, but we didn’t know yet what Jane Leo was going to be,” Bryant says. “The second record told us what it was going to become.”
Approaching each project with theatrical flair – onstage, Leo sports a Goodfellas-inspired look, while Bryant’s style stems from Ann-Margret in Viva Las Vegas – allows the artists to distinguish Jane Leo from the separate folk/rock projects they still work on. Creature of Destruction allowed them to explore the sexier and satirical sides of their vintage aesthetic.
They’ve created a Valley girl persona for Bryant’s game of vocal dress up, inspired loosely by different past acquaintances. She appears frequently in this second record offering sarcastic, funny social commentary, and Bryant says she’ll be around plenty in the third album they’re currently working on.
“[Building characters] makes us laugh, take chances, have fun, be weird, and not just write the same shit all the time,” Bryant says. “It’s not gonna be for everyone, that’s for sure, but there’s also some hooks and things that feel familiar and nostalgic.”
The couple says B-side “Goldmine” jumpstarted this techno-dance chapter. Yet it was the album’s fifth track, “I Want to Be Left Out,” that fully unleashed Bryant’s new musical persona with a nostalgic pop sound that would be a fair contender for any Clueless remake needing a good Cher theme. Channeling the blonde’s snotty slang, Bryant calls some unnamed character “a real bore-asaurus.” The synthesizer-filled “Nuclear Bomb” and the sarcastic “Wow” drive home Jane Leo’s penchant for camp – it’s clear the two have completely absorbed this wide-eyed diva dramatics.
Living and working at home together means there’s no boundaries for Bryant and Leo, or their musical projects. Their onstage garb bleeds into their personal closets, and music is a designer knickknack in their household. The vocalist’s notebooks lie open across the dining table; random instruments infiltrate their bookshelf. Hiding their colorful decor and pink kitchen tiles, there’s an occasional backdrop and camera set up in the living room to craft the band’s pristine, black-and-white social media feed. Before their studio was built, all of their writing and rehearsing was done out in the living room, which left the walls shaking and their teenage daughter covering her ears.
“She hears everything from the ground up over hundreds of times, like we do,” Bryant laughs. “By the time it’s out, she’s like, ‘Wait, you’re just now putting that song out?’”
Bryant and Leo started collaborating and dating when the two were facing burnout in their separate music projects. These days, they revisit those original projects when they need a break from Jane Leo or they feel a new song idea doesn’t mesh with the band’s art-pop vibe.
“When you have the one project or band, you would keep beating that dead horse even if you need a break from it, but with this, we were able to put those on the back burner and go full time into Jane Leo,” Bryant says. “Any time there’s a crack in the armor, we can easily jump back to [Leopold & His Fiction or Jane Ellen Bryant].”
Teamwork is essential for the music, life, and business partners.
“[We’re] always picking up the loose ends for each other, but also holding each other accountable,” Leo says. “Jane came into my daughter Ava’s life at six. That’s a crazy age to come into anyone’s life and to pick up all the loose ends that I couldn’t see – it’s just a perfect metaphor for everything else we do.”
The couple’s next hurdle? Supporting Ava, now 14, as she enters the treacherous waters of the music industry. In the last few months, she’s shown a stronger interest in singing and playing the bass, writing an EP and practicing with Leo.
“It’s like the best day of my life and worst nightmare at the same time. I do not want her going into music, but she’s gonna do what she’s going to do,” Leo says. “But, just for the sake of her heart – it’s like when dating starts, like, ‘Okay, I guess it’s inevitable, but please don’t.’”
While their daughter learns more about making music, the Austin music scene veterans have taken it upon themselves to help others find their industry footing. Last month the couple quietly launched musician education startup Native Fiction Artist Academy, which will offer waitlisted subscribers recorded and live tutorials on everything from songwriting to marketing strategy.
“We want to focus on the art first and encourage people to prioritize making music they love and not just cheat music to get it out quickly,” Bryant says, excitedly showing some of their content. “We want to help them know what to do with it so that it’s sustainable, aligned, and fulfilling.”
With three music projects between them and just getting this program started, Jane Leo is entering their current tour with Portland’s New Constellations incredibly busy. Together, though, they’ll puzzle a way to balance it all as they have since they met.
“We just share everything. We literally own a house together, we own multiple businesses together, we’re with each other all the time,” Leo says, smiling at Bryant. “Luckily, we love each other, and luckily, we get along really well.”
Jane Leo plays with New Constellations on Nov. 6 at Empire Control Room.