An Album That Dares to Care Too Much
Julia Cumming’s debut album flies in the face of ‘coolness’
Nonchalance has long been considered a cool thing for a musical artist to have. But, in the past few years, there is this particular breed of carelessness that has come into vogue. I guess the idea is that editing is dumb and polish is lame and caring is embarrassing. Of course, this leads to heaps of undercooked art - songs that could be great but were never chiseled, albums that are haphazard and have no central heartbeat. Nothing is allowed to ripen on the vine. Then, the marketing, the socials, all that shit, is presented as ultra-casual, effortless, “unaffected”.
Julia Cumming’s debut solo album, Julia, feels like a direct rebuke to that trend. It and she really give a fuck. And that is why this album has made it into the Gadfly series.
The funny thing is when I listened to the first track, I almost immediately thought ‘nope, not for me’... but then I kept listening. Something about it was so unique, I had to keep listening. Here’s Julia Cumming performing that first track, “My Life”, on The Tonight Show:
Her voice itself is a throwback– a mix of Karen Carpenter, Julie Andrews, and Joni Mitchell– of course, with her own unique flavor shaping it all. In that first track, “My Life”, her voice is decorated with airy strings, equally airy backing vocals, bells, and a rhythm section (bass, drums, piano) that sounds like it was recorded live off the floor.
It is all absolutely in service of her voice, though, and the song serves as a thesis statement for the album: something along the lines of “I didn’t make this album to impress you, it’s not about you at all, really, it’s for me. It’s my sound, and I’ll do what I want to”.
But, the song that hooked me, the one that made me keep listening, was track #2- “Revel in the Knowledge”. It starts with some interestingly voiced chords on a pulsing 70’s-style synth keyboard, rhythmic backing vocals that sound a bit like a small women’s church choir, and a super fun, busy bassline played by Cumming’s primary collaborator on the album, Brian Robert Jones (Vampire Weekend).
The chorus on that fairly strange, seemingly not hooky song, is a great hook. It’s a relief to get into the chorus, which I always love; there is a release there in the chord progression. The tempo moves into halftime, another excellent choice if I do say so. And the lyrics are intelligent, philosophical, and yet, somehow, still catchy: “Revel in the knowledge, one cannot be perceived. You’re born alone, you die alone; there’s so much in between”.
For me, this is the best song on the album, but I’ll link it here so you can decide for yourself:
The next track, “Hollywood Communication”, might be the most fun song on the album. It’s a little beachy, a little 70s yacht rocky, a little Minnie Riperton, very easy to bop to. I’d call it a great driving song. Again, the lyrics are smart and unpredictable.
“Please Let Me Remember This”, which has a fun little music video (linked below), was directly inspired by Brian Wilson’s tune “Busy Doin’ Nothing”. If you’re not familiar, Brian Wilson was the brain behind The Beach Boy’s sneakily sophisticated song structures and incredible layered harmonies. Dude was a genius, really, and Julia has noted him as a major influence for her work. I can hear that throughout the album, and especially on this track.
“I could live my life loving and failing all 8 billion people, but there’s only one you” is the standout line, for me, on the next track “Emotional Labor”. It’s a downtempo, contemplative track. Not usually my cup of tea, but the lyrics are so solid and she’s hidden so many catchy little melodies throughout that I’ve been wooed.
Speaking of solid lyrics, the next song, “Ruled by Fear”, is my vote for the best lyrics on the album (subject to change, there are so many lyrics to admire on this one).
“My mama told me once, you don’t use your gifts, you lose ‘em.
Why do I wait around for people to abuse ‘em?
Do I trust their judgement more than mine?
Sense of self, hard to define,
What if I look too hard and finally find there’s really nothing there?
Ruled by fear,
A prisoner in my own mind if I stay right here
I’ll never fail if I never try.
I find new ways to waste a year or maybe several
Just thinking about the day my dreams are on the schedule
But wishing only passes time
I stay brilliant in my mind
What if I look too close and finally find I’m just too scared to try?
Maybe it’s just me, but there are few song lyrics I’ve related to more.
“Fucking Closure” is more guitar-driven that the other tracks; it has a bit of an early 2000s break up song feel and I don’t mind that. But, I think the best part of this song is the doubling of the bass line and vocal melody at the end of each verse phrase. Without this, the song might get too repetitive, but it’s able to refresh the palate each time. Again, the composition is smart, thoughtful, and polished. This track also has a little music video for your viewing pleasure:
Cumming seems to have built the next song around its central, highly evocative image which she states explicitly in the title: “I Dream of a Fire that Stays Burning When Nobody Tends it”.
The next song, now that I listen again, might actually be my favorite.
“Do It All Again” is such an incredible mashup of sounds. The verses feature samba guitar and hand percussion, with light, spacey keys. Then the chorus keeps the samba elements but adds this distorted, heavy electric rhythm guitar with a floating 70’s lead guitar over it. The composition is remarkably unique. All of this seemingly disparate instrumentation cradles her airy-yet-powerful soprano voice so well.
We move back into a boppy little ballad in the penultimate “Sounds of a Secret”. Lovely harmonies, lots of studio piano, a bigger, layered chorus. The final track, “Forget the Rest”, is another banger for lyrics. The verse lyrics are dense and specific, which works because the chorus is easy, repetitive, and catchy:
“I love you, forget the rest”, she sings again and again. A love song to herself, I believe, and the perfect way to round out the album and bring it back to her initial “thesis statement” track.
At this point in music history, I am very happy to see us moving away from hyper-controlled recordings: with super auto-tuned vocals, perfectly quantized drums, no note out of place. It isn’t human, and it’s made for a lot of sterile music. But I don’t think the reaction to this needs to be just not giving a shit.
Quite to the contrary, it’s the caring that is human, it’s the soul that spills over in a vocal that’s pushed out of tune by passion that I want.
I’m often a fan of a “rough” sound, the rawness of lo-fi; there are great albums with that aesthetic. But, they’re great because they were intentionally made with that aesthetic, not because the artist didn’t care enough to polish it up. If thoughtful, carefully crafted music is suspect, if “caring is creepy”, my friends… we have a problem.
Thankfully, Julia Cumming is out there caring “too much” and being “too much” and that is exactly what we need our artists to be doing, frankly. Dare to care, kids!
Go listen to Julia, it’s an experience. Also, just because I think it’s excellent, here is a video of the song “Champagne Taste” from Julia’s other project Sunflower Bean.