French-Canadian
singer-guitarist Julie Peel is preparing to unleash her debut full-length
album, Near the Sun, on May 2009 on
American Laundromat Records. Previously featured on ALR compilations including Just Like Heaven (a tribute to the
Cure), Gigantic (a tribute to Kim
Deal), Dig for Fire (a tribute to the
Pixies), and Cinnamon Girls (a
tribute to Neil Young), this will be Julie’s first solo full-length release.
Her lo-fi, guitar-driven pop recalls the likes of Ida, Anna Ternheim, Beth Orton, Katryn Williams, Caithlin
de Marrais, and Mirah, but bears her own distinctive indie sensibility and
style.
Born in Cannes,
Julie was raised between France and Canada, but has spent most of her life
living in Canada and Ireland, and sings entirely in English on this album. As a
child, she tended toward self-determination. “At 5,” she explains, “I would
take my bike and go for long rides in the countryside... Sometimes I would go
fishing by myself.” Though her mother worried, Julie always came home “like
it’s normal a 5-6 year old kid would go out all day so far away.” That
independent spirit is evident throughout Near
the Sun, which Julie recorded, mixed, and produced on her own. She plays
most of the instruments as well, though she is also joined on bass, cello, and
upright bass by Cyrille Catois (who she met in 2005 and has worked with
consistently ever since) and on drums by Andreas Dahlbäck (drummer and producer
for Anna Ternheim, Melpo Mene).
Spontaneity was
key in the creation of this album, as evidenced by tracks such as ‘Innocence.’
“I composed it and wrote the lyrics in under an hour, and recorded it very
quickly right after,” she reveals. “... I guess this song is what represents me
the most.” The swell of the cello under her honest, melancholy lyrics turn this
stand-out track from simple to understatedly sophisticated. “Most of the tracks
were first takes”, Julie notes, which manifests itself in a sense of both
immediacy and intimacy throughout the album. The undeniably catchy track
‘Living in a Movie,’ replete with irresistible hand-claps, seems sent straight
from the soundtrack to a film by Michel Gondry or Sofia Coppola. A sweet and
somehow cinematic tune that demonstrates Julie’s capability to craft pop songs
at once familiar and dream-like, deceptively minimal, ‘Living in a Movie’ is
just one of the songs off Near the Sun that compels repeated listens.
Though her
contributions to the ALR compilations were noteworthy in their own right, this
collection of original material bears testimony to Julie Peel’s own dynamic pop
sensibilities. Keep an eye out for Near
the Sun, and look for her hitting the road across the US later in 2009.
Becca Rosenthal (The Planetary group)