There’s something terrifically trippy about Circles. Think Jefferson Airplane’s psych-pop classic White Rabbit mixed with Sinead O’Connor’s brave melancholy and you’re halfway there. – Tony Clayton-Lea, Irish Times
Circles is the first release from the upcoming debut, and self-titled album, Far Away Blonde (AKA Julie Horton). “This song just seemed to come about: an urgent call for togetherness in a seemingly ever-separated planet”.
“I made the video from the train window – symbolizing this journey of life. Global surveys on Happiness show no surprises – we all want the same thing: love, shelter, peace. It should be easier to pull together, and recognise we are all connected!”
Julie shows how instinctive an arranger she is on Circles, as on all the songs on the album: “Setting up my own studio has given me the opportunity to score for a multitude of instruments — to create sonic landscapes: I love this new freedom”.
The album will be available at the end of the year.
Julie Horton firmly believes that she would not have chosen to pick up a guitar and write songs if she hadn’t moved to Ireland over 20 years ago. In this cultural shift – the sing-songs at gatherings, the sight of instruments casually strewn on house visits, the new found love of intimate gigs (with or without company) – she absorbed the associations that seeped from the performances of many singers and songwriters, little knowing that such immersion would slowly strengthen her creative reach.
Under the name of Far Away Blonde, Julie has written a collection of songs that disprove numerous things, one of which is that anyone over the age of 50 might as well give up the ghost when it comes to making art or creating music. Although not a multi-instrumentalist, during the pandemic she set about learning how to master everything she could place her fingertips on, “so that I could go beyond acoustic versions and put as much of myself into each song.”
Increasing awareness over the past few years of how intuitive a musician and arranger she is, has enabled much more control over her work. You can hear such confidence and proficiency in the music, while you only have to listen to the songs to know that vibrancy, clarity of thought, and human connectivity run through them like words through a stick of rock. Tracks such as Like It’s the First Time, I’ve Travelled Far, Circles, This Love, Come to the River, and All That Fire display everything that is right with song composition and arranging.
Like It’s the First Time comes across as a sweet-voiced Marianne Faithfull diving headfirst into Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks (“In all this tragedy, all this sorrow, all this pain, it’s plain I’m in love with all of this stuff… reachin’ for the rain…” Julie sings as horns and flute filter their way through the lyrics). I’ve Travelled Far is a sublime, tender song that outlines life’s knotty twists and turns without a hint of bitterness (“Nobody’s out, no one’s alone,” Julie discloses, bathed in a warm sonic wash, “we’re all in the light heading home”). Circles is like the spirits of Sinead O’Connor and the Cocteau Twins playing crafty word games with each other (“with a hand upon a beating heart to the rhythm of a song, let’s get along…”), while the song’s simple but effective grace carries it towards the skies. This Love is like tears seeping into silk, a song about how loving oneself is crucial before transferring your heartfelt feelings to someone else (“Every thought’s unchaining me, releasing all that pain in me, it’s something almost heavenly, I swear…”) as Julie’s voice floats over and through it like a will o’ the wisp. The result is a soft beauty that connects with the regret-tinged Superpower, which craves for a time before a multitude of experiential issues got in the way of living an easy life. “If we could talk of each perfect day, we might remember… what lovers say.”
All of the songs radiate layers of a life lived to the resounding rhythm of a singular drum. Admitting to living life on a different, more forward-thinking level, Julie has fashioned her songs to reflect her maturity, and the desire to live a more examined life. “I remember when I came to Ireland, friends would call me eccentric, explaining that if they phoned this or that girlfriend, she would either be in the pub or shopping, but if they phoned me, I’d probably be in a meadow.”
We are tempted to say that Julie Horton is outstanding in a field of her own (but we won’t). What we will admit is that she is one of Ireland’s best kept secrets just waiting to be uncovered, discovered, downloaded, absorbed, and praised.
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Julie Horton’s debut single, Circles is released on June 28th.
Watch the video here: Far Away Blonde – Circles (youtube.com)
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