Valerie June
Owls, Omens, and Oracles
***and1/2 out of *****
On her recent releases the Memphis, TN based artist Valerie June had been focusing on softer, slower, relaxing, acoustic efforts. With her sixth studio full length, Owls, Omens and Oracles, June has returned a bit to her indie-rock roots as June mixes grandiose soul, modern r&b, pop and gospel coloring the sound and tone.
Produced by M. Ward, Owls, Omens, and Oracles starts loud before receding to more restrained tones over the second half of the album. Opener "Joy, Joy!" is the most rocking effort as the groove keeps things moving, June plays with her vocal style, even getting deep, before a screeching guitar solo; a great way to open the record.
A focal point is the piano ballad "Trust the Path" as June mixes the spiritual with science as her gorgeous vocals float and soar in a song that urges the listener to keep on keepin' on. June's searching sound and style fluctuates throughout as "All I Really Want To Do" is a throwback to big Memphis soul records of the 60's with large scale production and strings while "Endless Tree" goes the other way as the angsty tune, muddies up production in a punk-ish fashion, that doesn't really hit the mark.
June continues to genre hop as "Love Me Any Ole Way" is a tribute to Fats Domino with some glorious muted trumpet work from Nate Walcott while "Superpower" undulates on a deep bass programming and trap style drums as June sings and uses spoken word phrases at the same time. The album highlight arrives with "Changed" as the cool bass groove brings in gospel appeal, slapping drums, excellent singing from both June and guests The Blind Boys of Alabama as the track pumps winningly.
While the experimentation with styles is nice to start, for the second half of the record June falls into what seems a bit more natural to her. "Sweet Things Just for You" is beautifully emotional with layered vocals and gorgeous tone, "Calling My Spirit" brings in the titular owl and nature sounds, June's banjo leads "My Life Is A Country Song", the delicately warbling "Missin' You (Yeh Yeh)" is soft while closer "Love and Let Go" easily swells with piano and brass.
All of the songs are fairly short, so if one tracks particular style is not for you, another one is coming up quickly as Valerie June still wanders sonically and sounds lovely doing so throughout Owls, Omens, and Oracles.
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