As falling leaves herald the start of Autumn, and scarves, gloves, hats and waterproofs being dug out of cupboards, Julie Odell’s new EP Disappearing Act is a perfect accompaniment to the time of year as it provides the same warmth and golden glow as an open fire. Odell was born into an artist’s life with her mother being a painter and her father a potter, which meant a childhood of travelling to festivals and craft fairs. So, not surprising that despite a childhood desire to be a meteorologist, she would gravitate to the arts starting with “dainty piano waltzes” on the family upright piano through to forming a psychedelic folk-rock band called Giant Cloud.
The songs on this EP were born, like so many musical projects, in the crucible of the global pandemic. Restricting movement slows everything down and for a musician can be a catalyst to writing and recording. For Odell this meant spending several months with her daughter at her sister’s family home in Indiana before returning to the unnatural quiet of New Orleans. There she says,
“my best friend Tif “Teddy” Lamson had been engineering at Marigny Studios and had full access to all the gear. I had a small batch of songs, so she offered to record them. We collaborated while navigating this new covid world and since everything was shut down we were able to zoom in and take our time. It was just a project to pass the time with no deadlines or pressure. No band, no plan, just two best buds making art in a bubble”
The four songs on Disappearing Act are sublime, with a gentle strength that was inspired by the joy of family life, especially that rarified time in Indiana. For example, the song ‘Orioles Eating Oranges’, with its pulsing guitar beat, glockenspiel accents and strings, paints in vibrant oils that draws on that time.
“There were huge empty grain bins at the farm that I would go in and work on songs. The acoustics were like a cathedral in there. I had the door propped open and saw a flash of fluorescent orange. Had never seen that color in nature before. Felt like my eyes couldn’t even understand the color it was so vivid. Turns out it was an oriole and my sister had put out some oranges to attract them. Truly a spectacle to see a bright orange bird eating a juicy orange in the sunlight.“
Julie Odell’s guitar playing is rotational and hypnotic, similar in style to the picking style of Nick Drake, and brings a wonderful tenderness to the heart of the songs. Her voice has an understated strength with a softness that blows in like a warm breeze, and sumptuous harmonies swell and blend beatifically with the lead melodies. Combined with exceptionally lush string and woodwind arrangements the overall effect is very heady.
Record label Frenchkiss Records say that there is more music coming but as these four songs were so perfect together they wanted to release them as a standalone EP.
Julie Odell: Website | Instagram | YouTube
Review by Paul F Cook
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