Artist: Juliana MacDowell
Album: Leaving Home
Label: Conch Town Music
Release Date: 3.13.2020
The peppy, bouncy vibe of the opening “I Like” belies singer-songwriter Julian MacDowell’s battles to conquer anxiety stemming from a staggering amount of personal loss. If music is truly a healing force, MacDowell is its epitome. Exploring relationships both good and bad, she offers, “My heart has known some very dark moments, but there is always the light to conquer the dark. We all have those times when the balance is off, and we endure more dark days than light ones.” She splits her time from her home state of Virginia and her adopted home in Key West, where the album was recorded.
Leaving Home, her second album, is a massive project involving 22 musicians in the credits, a four-piece horn section on the title track and a three-piece string section for “Midnight Hour.” Beyond those, the other players primarily also appear on a track or two. British producer turned Key West studio owner Ian Shaw (Primal Scream, The Mekons, The Platters and more) plays percussion throughout as does guitarist Matt Backer (Elton John, Julian Lennon). Keyboardist Ericson Holt (The Mavericks) is on all but one tune and bassist Claire Finley (Playing for Change) appears on several cuts.
MacDowell has a gift for melodic, sing-along type songs and the musicians punctuate in just the right places as evidence by Backer’s slide guitar on “Turn It Back Around,” Melvin Duffy’s pedal steel on “What More Must I Say,” or Alisa Walker’s fiddle on the affecting “Two Kinds of People.” “In the Dark” has a somewhat gloomier instrumental backdrop but MacDowell’s lyrics take the higher road, encouraging us how to get out of the bleak state of mind. “All Those Things” seems to owe to her bluegrass Virginia roots while the standout “Midnight Hour” begins as a soft-spoken ballad revealing her pure, well-articulated vocals which build in power through some stunning sequences featuring the string section, Holt’s piano, and Backer’s guitar solo.
She shows us both her serious side and also brings out a funnier, tongue-in-cheek approach to “Cruel Woman.” The horn-infused title track, filled with rollicking licks, speaks about leaving for Nashville, not Key West, but MacDowell is likely singing metaphorically about leaving her past behind. Even though she comes across as a naturally gifted singer and songwriter, it was a struggle to reach this point in her artistry. Her love for singing was relegated to background in church singing groups. “Performing for others was a dream I never thought I’d realize due to the anxiety that held me back for so long. But I’m living my dream right now…”she says.
We’re all better off for it. This is a well-conceived, impeccably rendered project, as evidenced in part by the high profile stature of some of these backing musicians, but mostly through MacDowell’s animated, enthusiastic delivery.
—Jim Hynes
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