Jazmine White Unveils a Deeply Personal Journey in "Innocence of Youth"

In the ever-evolving landscape of indie music, there are artists who simply create songs, and then there are those who craft experiences.

Jazmine White, a Texas-born singer-songwriter now based in California, belongs to the latter group. Through her signature genre of cinematic indie folk, she weaves together raw emotion, deeply personal narratives, and immersive soundscapes. Her latest album, Innocence of Youth, is no exception—it’s an intimate reflection on heartbreak, uncertainty, and the self-discovery that comes with growing up.

At its core, Innocence of Youth is about the transition from who we were to who we become. “Throughout these songs, I discuss feelings of heartbreak, loss, uncertainty, and love,” Jazmine shares. “As we grow older, we must individualize our beliefs and our identity for ourselves as reality is thrust upon us.”

Jazmine’s journey toward self-discovery wasn’t linear. The album was written over a span of two to three years, during which she experienced significant life changes. Dropping out of university, moving across the country, and navigating the struggles of a nomadic lifestyle all shaped the music and lyrics that ultimately came together in this release.

For Jazmine, these songs are more than just melodies—they’re the pages of her journal, an unfiltered window into her thoughts and emotions during one of the most transformative periods of her life.

“I didn’t have an outlet for all of these emotions except for writing songs,” she says. “This album is an ode to letting go of the past so that you can move forward and heal for a better future.”

A Cinematic Approach to Storytelling

True to her cinematic indie folk style, Innocence of Youth takes listeners on an emotional journey. Each track feels like a scene from an evocative, soul-stirring film—whether it's the melancholic acceptance in “Drought Seasons” or the bittersweet nostalgia laced through the album’s title track.

The music doesn’t just tell a story; it paints a picture. There’s an ethereal quality to her sound, blending haunting melodies with poignant storytelling that lingers long after the music fades. It’s this immersive quality that sets Jazmine apart, allowing her to create a world listeners can step into, feel deeply, and perhaps even find pieces of themselves within.

For many independent artists, releasing a full-length album can be a daunting move, but for Jazmine, Innocence of Youth is a testament to her dedication and artistic vision. “I hope that by releasing an album as a smaller artist, it can help to set my music apart,” she explains. “I know it’s not always considered the wisest decision, but to me, it shows commitment and that I am serious about taking my music to the next level, whatever that has in store for me.”

Beyond ambition, though, Jazmine hopes her music provides solace for those going through their own seasons of change and hardship. “I hope the album will be relatable to a lot of people and can help people not feel alone in their own Drought Seasons,” she says, referencing one of the album’s standout tracks.

With Innocence of Youth, Jazmine White not only bares her soul but also extends a hand to anyone navigating the complexities of growing up and finding oneself. It’s a musical journey worth taking—one filled with beauty, pain, and, ultimately, hope.

Your music is deeply personal and introspective. Was there a particular moment or event that sparked the idea for Innocence of Youth, or was it a gradual realization that these songs formed a cohesive story?

I think there was definitely a gradual realization for how “Innocence of Youth” became the main theme. All of the songs on the album were written within 2-3 years of my life, so it felt like I was writing a certain chapter of my life. When I was thinking of titles for the album, I wanted to pick one that I felt encompassed every single song and I feel like “Innocence of Youth” definitely does that, and gives a good overall summary of the album.

Before creating this album, I had been writing a lot of songs but had no way of recording or producing them. I had just dropped out of school and, for two months, was driving across the US, living a nomadic lifestyle. I had no idea my songs would ever be recorded; I was just writing to get feelings off my chest and give my emotions somewhere they could exist besides in my head and heart. Once I decided to move to Idaho with my producer and songwriter, we had this allotted time dedicated strictly to making music, and that’s when I decided to make an album.

I feel like listening to the album as a whole takes someone through my emotional process during this time period, which is cool so people can see what I was feeling during this era of my life. Apart from being incredibly sensitive and vulnerable, the album emphasizes the importance of truth to the questions, feelings, and doubts that come with growing up.

You describe your genre as "cinematic indie folk." How do you approach songwriting to ensure your music feels immersive and emotionally resonant, almost like a soundtrack to a film?

I am very inspired by a lot of my friends who are filmmakers and who have a very cinematic vibe to everything that they create. I feel like they have helped shape this style a lot. One of my friends actually wants to create a series with the album as the soundtrack, which I think would be really cool. I would also love to have my songs featured in other indie coming-of-age movies, and I think they could do really well there. They have already been the soundtrack of my life, and it would be incredible to see how they become a part of someone else’s story as well.

As far as the actual framework and production of the songs go, I think we have given it more of a “cinematic” vibe by adding a lot of vocal layering and giving it depth. Some of my favorite parts of the songs aren’t even the lyrics themselves. For example, the vocal runs in “Drought Season” speak a lot of emotion into the song. The instrumentals do as well, specifically in “You Have My Heart” at the end of the song, where there’s this climactic instrumental with a string swell - it honestly made me cry the first time I heard it all together.

Dropping out of university and moving across the country are huge life changes. How did those experiences shape not only your music but also your perspective on life and creativity?

Growing up, I was in an environment that made the conventional path feel like the only path. The thing that changed my perspective the most was spending my last year in university studying abroad in Italy. It made me realize how unhappy I had been before with the path that I had been pursuing because I thought I had to. Everything in Europe also feels so much more slower-paced and relaxed, and to me, art and music felt so much more celebrated and encouraged. I also had a lot more time to work on the projects I was passionate about like my music, fine arts, and photography.

Coming back to the States, I knew I wanted to take this newfound joy for life with me and keep pursuing it. Before gathering up the courage to leave university, it was an extremely difficult choice because a lot of people in my life did not agree or understand why I was doing what I was doing. My decision has definitely damaged certain friendships and relationships.

However, after leaving that bubble, I realized there are so many other people who feel like me about wanting to do things differently- especially moving to California, where I know so many people now who support art. It feels really good to be building that community of like-minded people here.

Dropping out also made me pursue different experiences that I never would have said yes to otherwise. After dropping out, I ended up going to this camp for creatives in Oregon, where I met a songwriter and a producer. After only a week of knowing each other, we decided to move into a cabin in Idaho together to create the entire album. I became so much more open to spontaneous life-changing opportunities and, for the first time, felt like I was fulfilling my life’s purpose.

This experience also allowed me to write songs that I would not have written otherwise, because it allowed me to break down emotions and process them in a way that I would not have previously done. It also allowed me to question things that I had not questioned before in my life because I did not feel that I had the freedom to do so in the conservative bubble that I grew up in.

The songs really embody this process of having so much time to really sit with the songs and make unique creative choices - like deciding whether to make a song more stripped down or with more instrumentation. “You have my heart” takes it a bit further, serving as an authentic cornerstone for the record.

Having been recorded off an iPhone speaker in the middle of Italy, this sort of intimacy takes you a step closer to me, the artist, and I am essentially giving the listener “my heart” in the process. The background score begins, simulating the sound of a heartbeat, which is a work of ingenuity by my producer, Jacob Ehrlich. Nothing brings you a more intimate experience than the artist giving an open invitation into her own heart.

What was the most challenging song to write on this album, either emotionally or creatively, and why?

A lot of the lyrics on this album are derived from painful memories or experiences in my life, and it’s really amazing to see how something beautiful can be created from a time I was hurting. I feel like that’s something that I strive to do in life: make beauty out of everything that I can.

For one song in particular, I think I was just feeling a lot more anger than normal, and it was a challenge in the production about how to balance and control this anger. “Hopeless Wanderer” easily has the most energy and angst out of any of the tracks on the album. It was the last song that we finished because it was the most tricky to work on- it has two different tempos in the verses and chorus.

I also wanted to convey the anger I was feeling in this song, but did not want to disrupt the vibe of the other songs on the album, which I would say are more mellow and nostalgic sounding. However, anger and frustration is definitely something I felt during this chapter of my life and I still wanted it to be included even it does have more of a raw, angry emotion than the others.

Something that was challenging about the album as a whole was feeling continually emotionally connected to every song on the album. Each song releases different emotions that I was feeling during this chapter of life, but I did not feel fully released from them myself until the album was actually released. I was still working on them and thinking about them everyday even though so many people that those songs are about are not an active part of my life anymore. It feels really good to fully “move on,” in a sense.

If a listener could take away just one feeling or message from Innocence of Youth, what would you want it to be?

This is such a difficult question, but I think I would say nostalgia, whether it be for an emotion you once felt, a person you once loved, or an experience you lived. These are all very youthful feelings to me, because anything from the past as your younger self can evoke this.

Those time periods helped you grow into the person you are today. Being appreciative of this time in our lives is sometimes difficult because we might make mistakes or get our hearts broken, which can be difficult to face, but learning and growing from these experiences helps us move forward.