From jungle juice to juice boxes
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jes Hudak once hauled jungle juice onto the New York City subway, a rite of passage for any twenty-something navigating the city’s chaos with a sense of purpose and a pocket full of lyrics. These days, she’s juggling juice boxes and mommy taxi duties, splitting time between her home studio and her daughters’ school runs. That shift, across cities and stages of life, is captured in full color on her new album, “Photographic Memory,” set for release Monday, May 5.
The album is the result of more than a decade of writing, recording, and reimagining. Hudak, who first gained national recognition on Bravo’s Platinum Hit in 2011, said the record serves as a time capsule of her creative evolution. Tracks like “TKO” and “Blush” were written years ago but never formally released. Now, she said, it feels like the right time.
“I’ve written some of my best songs, and I never put them out,” Hudak said during an interview conducted from her car during spring break. “It was like this creative logjam I had to clear. Once I clicked upload, it was one of the most relieving feelings I’ve had in years.”
Born in Minnesota, Hudak moved to Saratoga Springs at age 12 after living in New Jersey and spending years in both New York City and Los Angeles. She returned to the Capital Region to raise her daughters, Ruby and Violet, in a quieter place where she could focus on family and music.
“I’ve got a good flow going now,” she said. “The kids go to school, and I go to work on music.”
Motherhood has changed her approach to songwriting. Her youngest daughter, Violet, has a genetic disability that requires full-time care. Hudak is open about the emotional weight of parenting and how it has shaped her creativity.
“I go through a lot, and I have to be really strong,” she said. “There are times when I sit down to write and just end up crying. But then I’ll realize, ‘That was a really good lyric.’ It’s cathartic.”
That personal reflection appears on the album, most clearly in “So Pretty It Hurts,” which was inspired by a moment driving Violet home from school. Other songs capture earlier phases of Hudak’s life, particularly her years in Los Angeles. Some were written in the aftermath of Platinum Hit, when her songwriting vision sharpened but her career path became more complicated.
“I was done with the Hollywood scene,” she said. “Wrong management, the wrong fit—I just left. But I had written these songs, and I didn’t want them to disappear.”
Produced by longtime collaborator Kush Mody and recorded remotely with Los Angeles-based musician Emmett, Photographic Memory blends piano-led pop with layers of emotion. Hudak oversaw the release herself, from teaser videos to cover photography. For the first time in years, she said, she feels like the work reflects who she truly is.
“This is finally a proper representation of who I am as an artist,” she said. “So when I say I’m a singer and someone asks, ‘Where can I hear your music?’—now I have an answer I’m proud of.”
Live performances have been limited by her family’s schedule, but Hudak said she plans to rejoin the local music scene this year. She’s scheduled to perform as part of Erin Harkes’ “In the Round” series at Caffè Lena on Wednesday, May 1, and is hoping to book more solo shows over the summer.
“I love bar gigs,” she said. “Play for three hours, sing all the songs I love, get a free pizza—what’s not to like?”
Hudak is already looking ahead. She’s working on a new EP with Mody and sketching out ideas for a follow-up album that will draw more directly from her recent experiences. One track, “Daisy Razor,” imagines a pink-clad outlaw who channels strength through defiance and flair.
“It’s hard, being a mom, an artist, everything at once,” she said. “But now that I’ve cleared the backlog, I feel like I can finally start something new.”
