Singer/songwriter Julie Byrne treads the sublime to overcome grief on her refulgent new album The Greater Wings. She will also be playing a number of shows around the U.S. this fall including a stop at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles on September 12th. Her first album in six years, as well as the follow-up to Not Even Happiness, arrives as a luminous account of the artist’s journey toward renewal after experiencing a period of loss.
“Voices widen through the room / Distant galaxy moon / I’m not here for nothing,” Byrne coos with gleaming affirmation on the album’s opening title track “The Greater Wings.” Charged with melodic radiance and guided by her gentle finger-picking, her grandiose poetics glide as if emerging from dark clouds into sunbeams. While on the piano-lilting “Moonless” she delves into the depths of her anguish as a haunting swell of strings ebb and flow behind her gloaming vocals.
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“Summer Glass” keeps the album balanced between its teetering sorrows and soaring ebullience. A buoyant flourish of synths and harpstrings lifts her mournful memories out of existential hopelessness into a noble grasp for grace and renewal. While on “Lightning Comes Up From the Ground,” another soul-quaking ballad that resounds with lambent intimacy, she agonizes over killing the past. “Death to the old ways / But who am I without them?” she questions desperately.
Other standouts on the album include “Hope’s Return,” which crescendos triumphantly into this ethereal swirl of resonant medleys, and the mercurial meditation on mortality that echoes within “Death Is The Diamond.” Ultimately, The Greater Wings finds Byrne kindling an unparalleled pathos through both her stunning soundscapes and luxuriant lyricism.
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See Julie Byrne at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles on September 12th.
Visit Julie Byrne on their website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Julie Byrne tour
7/15 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s >
7/16 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s <
7/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records *
7/23 – Hebden, UK @ Bridge Trades Club
7/26 – London, UK @ Kings Place Hall ~
7/28 – Brighton, UK @ St Barts ~
8/19 Brecon Beacons, Wales @ Green Man Festival
9/5 – Seattle,WA @ Fremont Abbey
9/6 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
9/8 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
9/9 – Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall
9/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
9/14 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s
9/19 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd ^
9/20 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church (Sanctuary) ^
9/21 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^
9/29 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre ^
9/30 – Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom ^
11/16 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/17 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
11/18 – Manchester, UK @ St Michael’s Church
11/21 – London, UK @ EartH Theatre
11/22 – Bristol, UK @ The Jam Jar
11/24 – Limerick, IE @ Dolans Upstairs
11/25 – Dublin, IE @ Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire
11/26 – Belfast, IE @ The Black Box
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to The Greater Wings the new album from Julie Byrne below!
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