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 ----- 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 ----- 45:42 ----- 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.