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Post by blade on Jul 24, 2017 21:07:21 GMT
From: www.drunkenwerewolf.com/reviews/juanita-stein-pinches-stardust-america/Text: Juanita Stein pinches stardust on America Australian-born singer songwriter Juanita Stein toes the line between dreamland and reality, describing her debut solo album as such: “The record is an ode to the dark heart of America, of times gone and times to come.” Stein’s America is beautiful and cunning from start to finish, sea to shining sea. The album title frames Stein with grace and ironical poise, all without jeering the promise land, a place that has all but cut off its nose to spite its face. The record itself is self-reflexive, though when it’s not too busy snubbing the fruited plains, the album paradoxically creates a safe haven where dreams can exist, without risk of spoiling or finding their hopeful noses buried in a pile of rotten status quos. Stein says this of America: “I've forever idealised American life - growing up in Australia we were fed the American dream through film and television. The dichotomy between what was real and a dream is forever intriguing to me.” That melancholic feeling that you might try and banish from the pit of your stomach is real - a sidecar in the journey of America. Stein weaves in personal experiences of her own, keeping some of it nebulous in the good form of gonzo. The moment the record begins, we hear harmonics of a chord once struck on piano, ringing out—kind of like relinquishing a feeling, only to find that the impact sustains indefinitely. The album was masterfully recorded and produced by Gus Seyffert (Beck, Ryan Adams) in Los Angeles. The songwriting and storytelling are wrought with emotion, and the sound and vision match the equanimity disposed on the record. Evidently, the good has been imagined, the bad is real, and the ugly has been deemed beautiful. Stein conjures this socioeconomic snapshot in the following depiction of the album: “Dusty trails, a whimsical 50s suburbia and the haze of the 1960s.” The leadoff track pays homage to its chosen warrior, Florence Owens Thompson: “Florence you’re a leader, there’s not many of us born. You’re a lover, fighter, mother, keeper of the dawn.” America nestles warm and vibrant textures together, somehow managing to start a fire in the rain. Atop lightly strummed acoustic guitars, Stein harmonizes with herself, and as an enchanting vortex of falsettos erupt (sounding nearly like a slide guitar), Stein’s timbre wallows in clarity. The mid-frequencies of the piano act as a centerpiece to the leslie-soaked organ registers and resplendent electric guitars, sitting nicely at the table. Entering the ring of psych folk giants like Big Thief and Angel Olsen, Stein's style is very much in vogue, yet cherished in its own right. Putting the contemporaries aside for a minute, Stein clarifies her influences: “The music of Roy Orbison, Dusty Springfield, Lee and Nancy and Patsy Cline all informed my musical sensibilities. They opened up this wide screen universe for me.”
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Post by blade on Aug 15, 2017 14:35:06 GMT
Our old mate Andy Von Pip has written a nice review of "America" on his excellent music blog: www.thevpme.com/2017/08/15/juanita-stein-america/Album Of The Month – Juanita Stein – America By Andy Von Pip on 15/08/2017 It’s hardly a huge surprise to discover that Howling Bells singer songwriter and guitarist Juanita Stein‘s debut solo album has distinct alt- country flavour running throughout. It’s a genre that’s been subtly embraced by the band in the past, perhaps none more so than on the band’s stunning eponymous debut album released in 2006 (which still remains our favourite debut album of the last decade.) It received wide spread critical acclaim and earned them the “Goth Country” tag a description which at the time seemed to somewhat baffle the band. Another three albums which traversed a number of genres, did much to throw off that early tag but there’s was always been a brooding sense of melancholy that pervaded much of their work. On her debut album, ‘America’ Juniata embraces the dusty, alt country genre with style and substance to craft a wonderfully cinematic occasionally crestfallen album. Despite employing atypical country tropes addressing themes such as heartbreak, betrayal, gambling men, wronged women, broken vows, whiskey in the fridge, and the symbolic blue dress she isn’t constrained by the genre as she fashions an album that is wistful, nostalgic yet modern, relevant and inherently beautiful. ‘Dark Horse’ has shades of Orbison meets the Beatles, whilst ‘Florence’ is the poetic tale of Florence Owens Thompson, a song inspired by Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 photo, ‘Migrant Mother’ as Stein reimagines her struggle as a woman and a mother during the Great Depression – “Another year will pass/ another temporary home/ another child is raised/ another seed is sown” ‘Cold Comfort ‘ written by Juanita’s Dad and musician Peter Stein is an authentic master class in timeless country blues as is ‘Someone Else’s Dime’ whilst the sprawling cinematic ‘Black Winds’ is the darkest sounding tune on the album and as such perhaps the one that most recalls Howling Bells. Whilst ‘America’ is not the visceral white knuckle ride of Howling Bells debut album there’s much to admire and it should delight fans of the likes of Hope Sandoval, Julia Jacklin and Patsy Cline. Thematically the album promises to delve into America’s dark heart but despite the forlorn sense of melancholia invoked by a number of tracks the overriding emotion the listener is left with is one of hope. ‘America’ is ultimately an album which feels redemptive rather than despondent and dispirited. The female protagonists in many of the album’s lovingly crafted vignettes may have been ‘done wrong’ by their man, but they aren’t defined by him. They aren’t weak acquiescent victims of a selfish lover (or uncaring patriarchal world) , there’s an inner steel to them, and they can still see the stars shine and shimmer and look to the horizon across the dustbowl to imagine, and ultimately create a brighter tomorrow. 8/10
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Post by blade on Aug 15, 2017 14:40:58 GMT
And here's a good 'un from DIY magazine, August issue: diymag.com/2017/07/28/juanita-stein-americaJuanita Stein - America ‘America’ spins tales of sorrow and betrayal and turns them into something exquisite. LABEL: NUDE RELEASED: JULY 28, 2017 REVIEWER: LISA WRIGHT RATING: 4 STARS Back in 2006, when Lana Del Rey was a mere glint in plain ol’ Lizzy Grant’s eye, Juanita Stein was already busy conjuring her own brooding, dusky vocal magic on Aussie quartet Howling Bells’ criminally underrated, self-titled debut. Possessed with the kind of pipes that could illicit spine-tingling chills from the bleakest of tales, Stein and the band were a more measured, mature thrill within a garish, antagonistic landscape of Hard Fi and Razorlight. Needless to say, they didn’t do as well as they deserved to. Now, on her first solo effort - a sultry trip through the dark side of the American dream - you can basically hear the LDR parallels being drawn by the uninitiated, but make no mistake: Juanita’s an old hand at this particular game. Whether in the rumbling guitar twangs and fluttering vocals of opener ‘Florence’ (an ode to Florence Owens Thompson - the subject of noted Depression-era photo ‘Migrant Mother’), lilting torch song ‘Shimmering’ or country-flecked, tear-soaked ballad ‘I’ll Cry’, Stein creates a world to lose yourself in. It’s a sepia-tinged, dusty landscape, bathed in perpetual halflight - one rooted in a different era, where love and heartache rule the waves and twitter is just a thing the birds do at dawn. ‘It’s All Wrong’ basically demands to be soundtracking an emotional parting on a train platform, while the half-whispered delicacy of ‘Not Paradise’ is as tear-jerking as they come. Only ‘Cold Comfort’, an all-too-country hoedown that lacks the nuance of the rest of the record, slightly misfires. With an utterly flawless, heart-twisting vocal throughout, ‘America’ spins tales of sorrow and betrayal and turns them into something exquisite. It would be a travesty to let the singer fly under the radar for a second time.
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Post by chrome3d on Aug 17, 2017 12:07:58 GMT
Juanita Stein: America (Nude) 7/10 Words by Chris Watkeys 27.7.2017 Loud and Quiet www.loudandquiet.com/reviews/juanita-stein-america/Juanita Stein is the frontwoman and driving force of Howling Bells, long-time purveyors of raw, scuzzy, indie rock. Now four albums into their career, the band’s star was brightest back in 2006 when their eponymous debut album broke the four-piece as fuzzily melodic newcomers with a knack for a hooky chorus. Stein’s smokily distinctive voice is the glorious centerpiece of their music; and live, her dark charisma is their magnetic draw. So ‘America’, Stein’s debut solo effort, carries much promise. Joining the canon of literally countless records, books, films and paintings which pay tribute in some way to the “dark heart of America”, it’s a collection of considered yet evocative songs which touch on some aspect of U.S. life, or are stylistically influenced by the country’s most revered musicians (Stein herself cites Dusty Springfield and Roy Orbison, amongst others). Thus ‘Florence’ sees a sultry voice and a southern swing slide over a shuffling, eyes-narrowed, cowboy gunfight kinda backdrop; it’s a superb opening to the album, steel guitar and all. Then there’s the darkly chaotic ‘Black Winds’ and the magnificent grandstanding, bold crescendos of ‘It’s All Wrong’. ‘Not Paradise’, late in the piece, is a perfectly sad ballad with beautiful, tremulous vocals. Stein’s voice is the consistently beguiling thread which holds ‘America’ together. But with its references to bourbon, gambling men and copious heartbreak, and its heavy stylistic borrowings, there are two ways of viewing this record; either as a slickly accomplished pastiche (but a pastiche all the same); or, as its creator intends, as a beautifully observed and evocative ode to America. It deserves to be heard as the latter; for me this album paints a gallery of vivid pictures, and Stein is the powerfully creative master of her art.
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Post by chrome3d on Aug 17, 2017 12:22:15 GMT
Juanita Stein: America written by Mike Davies 2 August, 2017 Folk Radio UK, FRUK www.folkradio.co.uk/2017/08/juanita-stein-america/Following on from brother Joel’s solo project, Glassmaps, it’s now the turn Juanita Stein, singer and guitarist with Australian ex-pats Howling Bells, to release a solo album which has been gestating for some five years. It isn’t too great a departure from the band’s sound, or at least that on the last album, Heartstrings, in that it leans heavily on the empty desert country Americana with its brooding echoey twang-some guitars and dry, dusty atmospherics, established from the start with opening number Florence. The song’s a tribute to Florence Owens Thompson, the migrant mother and subject of Dorothea Lange’s famous 1936 photograph of the Great Depression, and, as such, underscores the album’s lyrical and thematic in America’s history and the imagery of the American Dream with its characters real and imagined. Dark Horse is another Western-influenced number, the cinematic sound evoking thoughts of Dimitri Tiomkin. Elsewhere, the influences of Patsy Cline (the two step waltzing Cold Comfort, written by her father, Peter), the softer side of Lee and Nancy (a breathy I’ll Cry) and even Roy Orbison (It’s All Wrong) ring clear. On the melodically tumbling Someone Else’s Dream you might even find yourself thinking of Zooey Deschanel. Several numbers find her adopting a breathy, slurringly sensual delivery, dreamily so on Stargazer and the appositely titled Shimmering. She offsets the moody, riff prowling Black Winds with a distant ghostliness, a languid haze that also permeates the narcotically slow Not Paradise with its nods to both David Lynch and the slow dance torch burners of the 30s and 40s. Introduced with a glissando sweep on the harp and again with perhaps a hint of David Lynch, Blue Velvet era, the title track ends the album on the same dusty widescreen notes that it began, on the open road in search of hope, dealing with loss as it travels through America’s dark heart. You might care to share the journey.
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Post by blade on Aug 28, 2017 15:20:33 GMT
From: highwayqueens.com/2017/08/27/album-review-juanita-stein-america/Album Review: Juanita Stein – America Juanita Stein’s new solo record is called ‘America‘ and the open highway on the cover also signals that this is a new direction for the Howling Bells front woman. This album veers away from the burning indie rock of her past creating something more lush and listenable. The album opener, Florence, creates a feeling of a dark saloon band playing in the Wild West, if you look closely maybe you’ll see a girl behind the bar working for her pittance. Stein sings about this luckless character with optimistic admiration, You’ll survive another storm/you’ll survive so many more. For her it’s survival, not success that is the true spirit of America. Dark Horse is a pop song but there’s an undercurrent of something a little different here, a feeling of freedom that comes from being in the shadows. When she sings about being Tangled in a dream you can interpret this as a statement about the music too. There’s a real understated beauty to these songs and no abrasive edges like in some of her band’s previous work. Black Winds has Stein singing in her highest register over the sound of sinister swirling sounds and guitars. I’ll Cry is the breathless song of a femme fatale and is a dead ringer for Lana Del Rey. I wasn’t going to mention her but you can’t help but find yourself hearing the similarities, especially on this song. Thankfully Stein has a kinder more comforting voice, there’s nothing of the cold dead heart of that eternally bored pop star. The song titles of Stargazer and Shimmering give you a real sense of the beauty of this album. It floats over you, feeling like the soundtrack to some tragic love affair. It’s All Wrong couldn’t be further from the truth – the voice and the guitars spin around your room like the light from a mirrorball. Interesting then that Cold Comfort goes for the straight Americana sound, so different from the blissed out indie pop of the rest of the record. It’s a classic country heartbreak song, not sung with twang but the guitars create this honky tonk feeling. Perhaps the album could have done with a few more tracks like this, as on its own it perhaps feels a little tacked on in order to fit the album into the Americana genre. The final track ‘America‘ is sung to the country itself. She knows things have gone wrong, people have suffered, innocence is lost but she wants the country to move on and try to remember their dreams. The song looks into the dark heart of a place and only sees goodness and hope for the future. America you’re close to paradise. And this is not just about one place, it’s about how every human being has the potential to be better, to forget the past and head for the light. It’s a stunning end to the album, showcasing Stein’s achingly perfect vocals, her rich sound and expansive vision. ‘America‘ may not be where Juanita Stein is from but in it she has found a perfect place for her music to live and grow. Listen to this album and you will find her new home a warm and welcoming world.
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Post by blade on Sept 18, 2017 7:48:05 GMT
From: redrospective.com/2017/09/04/album-review-juanita-stein-america/With a beat and a quiver we are transported to a landscape familiar from Western films. The lyrics bear out the cinematic allusions: “walking for the freedom that you’ll never find/walking for survival.” Just as the scene is set, the twist kicks in. The title character, Florence, isn’t a lonesome badlands wanderer. She’s inextricably bound with others – responsible for them, subservient to them – and caught up in drudgery and poverty. The singer urges perseverance and resolve: “you’re a leader, there’s not many of us born/you’re a lover, fighter, mother, keeper of the dawn.” The shuffling percussion and driving bass echo the themes of strength and survival. Like in the best Westerns, the instrumentation of Dark Horse stalks the edges like rattlesnakes. Vocally, there’s a languorous quality somewhere between sultry and knowing. A sense of savviness and agency permeates the lyrics too: “you’re a dark horse, baby, I can feel it/you got the right kind of wrong, I see through it.” The cinematic soundscape carries through Black Winds with its persistent beat accented by fuzzy guitar riffs. It’s the audio equivalent of a lone hero trudging away, last seen as a silhouette walking towards the sun. I’ll Cry depicts another kind of lonely. It’s a highlight for its low lights. There’s a sense of resignation cut with equal parts of hope and sadness: “call me any time you’re high or low/call when you miss the way you were/just don’t call when you’re with her.” Stargazer feels like a response to Black Winds‘ lonesome wandering: “out in the desert where you roam/the night sky will guide you home.” In both songs, Stein’s vocals reach impossible heights, adding as much to the melody as to the narration. If Dark House sounds sultry, Shimmering is outright seductive. It’s half-whispered: “you’re demanding/I don’t mind a little heartache/if it means I get to wear that blue dress.” Comparisons with Lana Del Rey are perhaps inevitable, but Stein’s been on the scene as a member of The Howling Bells since long before Lizzie Grant discovered the power of a red dress and an exotic stage name. Someone Else’s Dime is the earworm of the record but it’s unsettling beneath the catchy chorus, much like the failing marriage it describes: “saw his eyes on your children/saw his heart on your sleeve/will he ever return your dignity?” It’s All Wrong is a sweet shuffle symphony but, again, the calm sound belies the break-up it laments. The relationship wasn’t perfect but it was better than loneliness: “you always made me cry/you’d lose your temper telling lies/I miss the little things.” It’s not a clean break, and it’s all the more real for that. Not Paradise feels like a companion piece in its whispered willingness to love again. It’s not commanding but it’s certain: “I give you my heart/with it all the pain/all the joy.” Cold Comfort is completely country – twang, bourbon, loneliness and all. It’s a great lead in to the album’s final track, America. It not only describes a road trip, with an easy cadence reminiscent of the open road, but also it explores America’s landscapes, soundscapes and mindscapes with the vast scope of a great American novel: “I wanna call on the greater good of America.” When the record is played on repeat, the winding roads of America lead back to the great plains of the arresting opening track. The song and the album explore the meaning of America and Americans from a distance and at the most intimate levels – from widescreen to close-up – revealing dualities, contrasts and balance all wrapped in compelling, confident, sensuous delivery. Juanita Stein’s America is out now. She will be in the UK and Ireland in September for a solo tour, then returns in November to support The Killers (seriously!) Visit juanitastein.com for full details. Wondering what she sounds like live? Here’s my review of her recent London show. For more album reviews, and concert reviews and photos, please follow me: WordPress: redrospective.com Twitter: @redrospective Instagram: redrospective Facebook: redrospective
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