Valerie June – Owls, Omens and Oracles (Concord)
Valerie June just wants us all to just get along and the music she makes on this, her 8th album, might make that happen.
The 43-year-old Tennessee native was brought up on a diet of gospel and soul thanks to her dad who was a part-time music promoter bring in artists like Bobby Womack and Prince to western Tennessee.
Valerie, the second of 5 children, then set out on her own musical journey, to Appalachia, where she discovered folk, bluegrass and country and taking up guitar, banjo and lap steel, resulting in a sound that is pure Americana…if there is such a thing.
Now Valerie, like all of us, is struggling to make sense of the current state of affairs. And so we have songs like Joy,Joy!, All I Really Wanna Do and Endless Tree, songs that encourage us to “keep on dancing through the hardest rain”.
M. Ward is on board as producer…he’s worked with Mavis Staples, so he knows the territory…and together they create a sounds and a vibe that just might make you think there is a blue sky just over the horizon. In Endless Tree, Valerie sings about “watching the news almost every night….and…getting the courage to do something small”. Meanwhile strings, horns and keys give Valerie’s unique voice a soft bed to land on.
Ward goes full Spector on All I Really Wanna Do, the percussion and the strings sounding like the perfect Shirelles/Ronettes mixtape. And when things could start to get a bit too “Get Together”, too syrupy, Ward throws in a scintillating electric guitar solo as he does in Inside Me.
June isn’t afraid to experiment with her voice…Calling My Spirit is done acapella and Trust The Path features a vulnerable vocal take that borders on out of tune, but at the same time feels, live, real and emotional…and Nate Walcott’s piano is the icing on the cake.
The Blind Boys Of Alabama chime in on Changed and Norah Jones sings backup on Sweet Things Just For You, but the voice that really shines is is Valerie June’s.
Granted, some of the later love songs don’t quite have the emotion weight and joy as those first three songs, but overall Valerie and M. Ward do an admiral job of lifting our spirits at a time when we need it the most.
Marty Duda
Owls, Omens and Oracles is out now on Concord Records
Valerie June Online
Website | Instagram | TikTok | X | Facebook
