Julia Bardo – Bauhaus, L’Appartamento (Wichita Recordings): Album Review

Julia Bardo, an Italian singer-songwriter has given us a gem of a Pop debut. Drenched in the atmosphere of The gold star, Girl-Group-Beatles-Byrds axis; tapping into the Jet Age Sound.

Bardo is Italian, with her last five years as a resident of Manchester. She has said that she does not have any particular attraction for the artists of that musical mecca. She doesn’t particularly think she is Sixties obsessed either.

But music is like starlight. The original practitioners may be long gone but the energy remains undiminished. It continues to sparkle and glimmer through different artists. You don’t have to know where all your influences come from. They are just there regardless.

Bauhaus was an important Art movement in Germany. Started in 1919 and hugely influential until it was squashed by Totalitarianism in 1933. L’Appartamento was a classic Billy Wilder romantic comedy from 1960 with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.  So, she is clever at mis-direction, maybe.

The Most. Immediately Bardo’s voice is to the fore. Strong, melodic and tends toward contralto. That makes for a warm expansive sound which can touch the heart and soul with a practiced effortlessness. This is Folk Pop with its strummed guitar. She sounds like the Sandie Shaw of recent times when she sings Morrissey and Marr tunes.

No Feeling. A little Joy Division/ New Order in the revolving guitar riff intro. Thank you Producer? The bass guitar leads and bends the notes. The singer has a bit of Dominatrix in her delivery which she lifts as the song progresses. A heady combination of tough balanced with seductive.

Into Your Eyes introduces the chiming guitars and the ringing-of-the–bells developed by Spector at Gold Star. It is not overplayed and consequently shines rather than explodes. The singer uses nuance and subtle tones to convey emotion. Guitar melodies are simple and given lots of space. Keep listening and you do hear what is not played. Makes it a stronger tune.

Love Out of Control. The Sixties Female Pop Diva sound and you can fall right into it. Trying to resist the fear of losing you/ No, it’s not love. The guitar chimes and the bass lets go a little, Beatle McCartney style.

The One. You used to be the one/ I used to dream about you/ I just don’t know how to feel for you. The production captures some of the cadences of the Crystals. Also, the tough but tender vixens that were the Shangri-Las. The title hints at it, but there is the inspiration that Springsteen tries to tap as well. With his own obsession around the Girl Group sound.

Do This to Me. More chimes and little bells. Bass accents the Pop rhythm. The guitar a little too prominent and jars with the tone of most of the album. Is the voice double-tracked? She sounds a little like a blend of Karen Carpenter and Sandie Shaw.

Impossible is introduced with some dissonance and an eerie atmosphere. Hello from Manchester.  Getting used to being alone/ Getting used to being without you/ Something I can get used to. The slower tempo lets the singer shine. The song builds into a great Pop tune. The chiming guitars mix with melodic dissonance and tap the shoulders of the Notorious Byrd Brothers.

It’s Okay (To Be Not Okay). Bardo can convey pain and emotion with restraint like some of the great Country singers. It hurts that you’re living your life without me/ It hurts to watch you smile. The sound is Indie Pop but there is a little Country swing in there. A clue in the title.

The Greatest. You hear Bardo‘s speaking accent. A curious blend of Mancunian and Italian which sounds quite idiosyncratic.

Goodbye Tomorrow and the album closes the circle and returns to the classic Sixties contralto modulated Sandie Shaw voice. A death song with a beautiful melody.

There is a clue. It tends to sound all the same on initial contact. The same old song as sung by the Four Tops, and practised by Holland-Dozier-Holland and Morrissey-Marr.

And grateful for all my past influences as sung by Mancunian Mark E Smith.

Rev Orange Peel          

Julia recently shared breakfast with The 13th Floor, an utterly charming charming conversation. Watch that HERE.