Julia Sanders – Dark Matter
Asheville-based artist Julia Sanders has announced her third full-length album Dark Matter to be released May 16th and shared its title track, featuring Esther Rose.
Titled for the invisible, mysterious, and factually present mass that comprises more than ninety percent of our universe, the album is dedicated to questions—Is there any such thing as true contentment? What happens when we die? What’s the point of this life?—usually easier left unasked. “I stopped focusing on what I wanted to write about, and thought about what I didn’t want to write about.” she says. “And why didn’t I want to write about it.”
Produced by John James Tourville (The Deslondes), there’s a fit rawness to Dark Matter, an off-kilter grit reminiscent of The Velvet Underground and Mazzy Star. Sanders’ melodious vocals draw quick comparison to Natalie Merchant—lithe and lilting and occasionally bent with twang. She opts for textured imperfection, a form of sonic solidarity with the roughness of her subject matter. “The album takes on really difficult questions,” Sanders says. “But the point isn’t to answer them. It’s to surrender. To the unknown. To the invisible magic that—hey, turns out—makes up most of our world.”
Of today’s single, Sanders shares, “This song became a way to write about the unknowns we live with every day and the ways in which we try so hard to create meaning. It begins with a line about the seemingly endless instinct to wonder why, but the older I get, the more I resonate with the later verse: The only thing to master / live in question need no answer.” Sanders met singer-songwriter Esther Rose, who features on the track, when they were both living in New Orleans. The two found a quick artistic kinship and an immediate friendship. “One of my favorite things in this world is singing with Esther,” Sanders says. “I love the way she builds harmony and the unique way our voices click together. Her bright notes in the chorus mixed with that little riff from Steve’s guitar makes me think of a shooting star, or a lightspeed jump in space.”
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