About this item

Julia Cumming’s solo debut 'Julia' opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring.

As Sunflower Bean’s 'Headful of Sugar' era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Julia Cumming breaks free from the confines of band life to present her own creation, a widescreen distillation of 50's pop, soul and indie that's both wonderfully listenable and beautifully conceived. There are hints of easy listening and soundtrack work here too, and all of it beautifully integrated with the core aesthetic. Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1 My Life
2 Revel In The Knowledge
3 Hollywood Communication
4 Please Let Me Remember This
5 Emotional Labor
6 Ruled By Fear
7. Fucking Closure
8. I Dream Of A Fire That Stays Burning When Nobody Tends It
9. Do It All Again
10. Sounds Of A Secret
11. Forget The Rest