Artist : Julia Othmer
Album : Sound
Year : 2019
Genre : Pop
Source : CD
Label : Frickin Awesome Records
Catalog :
Rls.Date : 2019-06-20
Bitrate : VBRkbps
Size : 85.67MB
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1. Hearts on Fire 3:48
2. Hungry Days (Make Me Feel) 4:15
3. Coming for Me Now 4:12
4. Whether 3:50
5. Never Too Far 3:54
6. Purple and Gray 4:08
7. Homeward 3:49
8. Who Ever Says 4:21
9. As I Lay Dying 3:13
10. Frickin' Awesome 3:41
11. Hungry Days (Make Me Feel) - Radio Edit 3:30
12. Purple and Gray - Sun Magna Remix 3:01
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45:42
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Even in its quietest moments, storms of powerful emotions always seem to be
brewing on Sound, the spellbinding and stylish second album from
singer/songwriter Julia Othmer. Shelter is found in its spacious environs,
often lushly furnished with a rich array of textures, transcendent melodies,
varied instrumentation and full vocals that come in overlapping waves.
As OthmerÆs collaborator, James Lundie has his fingerprints all over Sound,
having helped design its stunningly sophisticated and dramatic architecture.
His nuanced work as producer/composer on this record deserves heaps of
praise, as does OthmerÆs strong, expressive vocals and eloquent, often
luxurious, piano stylings. She does get top billing after all.
Together, they wring every bit of sadness and yearning out of the bruised
ballad ôHomeward,ö having set an ominous tone of fear and foreboding in an
unnerving ôComing for Me Nowö and a noir-like, moonlit atmosphere in ôPurple
and Gray,ö a dreamy, poetic meditation on loss and grief that unfolds
beautifully. And while the inspirational and triumphant ôNever Too Farö û
with its big hooks û and the exuberant ôFrickinÆ Awesomeö reveal a sense of
rock-oriented optimism and healing, the surging ôHungry Days (Make Me Feel)ö
is fiercely defiant and visceral, its streaming guitars caked with fuzzy
distortion.
The dark aesthetics and shifting dynamics of Sound make it a record that
reaches for the sky, while at the same time manufacturing scenes of grounded
isolation and emptiness. A track like ôWhetherö is representative of Sound as
a whole, making a cabaret out of swirling vocals and thick carpets of
sumptuous piano. Sound sounds so good.