Julie Byrne
live in berlin
Just as seasons move and the habitats we co-exist in change every minute of every day - at the mercy of the elements, nature and our own human interaction - Julie Byrne's songs evolve at their own pace, living organisms likely to grow further even when they've flown the nest. With no commitment to time, the path she walks and the journey the music takes her on shall always be filled with twists and surprises. For this is the way it's meant to be, it's these travels and experiences that Byrne lives for and are at the forefront of her intimate documentations of a life we all may want to live but not quite brave enough to leave the material world behind.
Or that's how it may seem on the outside, but there is also a longing for domestication and the norm too in Byrne's psychedelic slanted folk songs. Whatever the reasons behind them or however she ended up there, one thing we do know is her latest album 'Not Even Happiness' is one of the years best. Capturing an atmosphere all of it's own - where comparisons are futile, unwarranted and simply not needed. Listen and you will finds an artist who is looking beyond the horizon but also somehow just speaking to just you, yet a true outsider.
Reports from the UK leg of her European tour have been audiences mesmerised, lost in a moment, eyes often closed, tears sometimes wiped away but always with a smile on the faces. This is very much a two way interaction, as Byrne takes as much from the audience as they give back. And on those nights when the wind is blowing in the right direction and the lights are low enough it becomes a totally unified experience - humans and nature - audience and performer - all as one.
Julie Byrne is currently on a European tour which ends in Berlin on Tuesday June 6th at Maschinenhaus - get your ticket here.
Her latest album 'Not Even Happiness' is out now on Basin Rock.