I was blown away by shaene’s last single release, ‘sad’; I don’t need to issue a spoiler alert by saying that I am equally blown away by ‘june’.
The sound is that same gorgeously rich and sometimes sparse blend of carefully chosen sounds that make something that is dreamy, somewhat shoegaze-y and possibly even with a hint of bedroom pop. It does that quiet, sparse and wistful, swelling to glorious sound. Guitars chime. Guitars add these fabulous touches of sound. And the vocals, let me tell you about the vocals. There are dual lead voices, there are layers and layers of achingly beautiful harmonies and vocal lines that twist and turn around each other.
But what is important here, given that it sounds amazing, is how it makes you feel emotionally. There is a sense of fragility and sadness, of truths being told, of emotions being laid bare. But there is a sense of strength; laying bare emotions and the personal, at this level is strong. I won’t hide the fact that the first time I listened to this I cried. Not just had tears in my eyes, I actually properly cried. It overwhelmed me. If one of the functions of art is to provoke emotions, this song did that.
My friends, this release is wonderful. In any way you can judge a song’s merits, ‘june’ is utterly beautiful. It’s as damn near perfection as a song can get.
The info
‘june’ is taken from shaene’s debut album ‘time lost / time regained’ due 01/09/2023.
Having spent years writing and performing in a host of seasoned DIY bands across Yorkshire, Leeds-based songwriter shaene shares the second offering from her eponymous emo project, ‘june’
Having already supported acts like Lande Hekt, and M(H)aol, whilst also being deeply embedded into the Leeds DIY community before releasing any music, their album lands at a time where the project has its resolute identity formed.
