EMBRACE
The short analysis by Julia Slawinska
'Embrace' is the first solo release from Julia Maria, a twenty-one-year-old singer and songwriter from Poland. She released it independently on the 13th of May 2022 as a part of her final project portfolio at the University of East London. The EP is five tracks of singer/songwriter indie mixed with electronica. It is her first release since 'Summer' (2021) by Dream Machine, Julia's band.
During the outburst of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Julia began learning the guitar and music production by herself. 'Embrace' is a fruit of that exploration. All songs were written, composed and performed by Julia Maria, except for the guitars on Squeeze and Embrace performed by Will Kedge. Additional production, mixing and mastering were done by Paolo Aniello and Tak Furamera.
The EP opens with a voice message from Will Kedge, Julia's friend and band member. He also played the electric guitar and programmed drums on the first track. Julia describes Squeeze as: 'the beginning of the journey when you are in the biggest pain'. The song has three verses and two lyricless choruses performed on top of three notes repeated on a guitar. It creates a hypnotic atmosphere and represents the linear feeling of sadness. Julia asks her lover to put their frustrations onto her because she cannot let go of them. The last verse is an emotional climax, where she cries: 'tell me you love me'.
The second song, & life went on, features a highly processed electric guitar, 808 drums and modified vocal loops. It is a deeper dive into electronic music. In this piece, Julia tackles miscommunication in a friendship which ultimately leads to its end. The distortion and sound manipulation refer to a clouded judgement in a relation. It ends with a realization 'And I moved on like you never happened'.
Waiting tackles the period of time when one is unable to move forward. It is the third track on 'Embrace' and features electric guitar, bass and vocals. The interlude sonically calls back to Squeeze due to its hypnotic, simple structure. The radio-sounding backing vocals are a response to the soft lead. On Waiting, Julia reassures herself that it is okay to wait if you are not ready to move forward and becomes comfortable with the passing time.
On Silly me, Julia takes a step back to praise the love and commitment we give in relations despite their inevitable end. It features highly processed electric guitars and a voice message from Dream Machine member and producer Paolo Aniello. It serves as a reminder that the love we give does not go unnoticed. The track is a fast-paced, experimental piece of electronic indie. Julia allows the nostalgia to overtake the narrative and celebrates being human and opening up.
In the last song on the EP, titled Embrace, Julia expresses her opposing nature. She regrets what she said in an argument but realizes how important it was for her to speak up. Embrace features an electric guitar played by Will Kedge and has a more indie sound than any previous track. Its purpose is to end one chapter and begin a new journey. The EP ends with a discovery of solace within oneself.
EMBRACE
an academic essay by Julia Slawinska
"Embrace" is my first release under the name Julia Maria. It is a solo project consisting of five songs. In this ep, I combine singer/songwriter indie with electronica. I wrote and composed all five tracks with additional help on tracks one and five from Will Kedge (guitar) and Tak Furamera (vocal production, bass). Tracks two, three and four include bass, additional production, and mixing and mastering by Paolo Aniello. I released "Embrace" independently on the 12th of May on Soundcloud as a portfolio part of my dissertation for the University of East London. It was later released through Spinnup on the 27th of May on Spotify. The idea for this project came to me in early 2021, around the time I was working on an ep with my band, Dream Machine. We released "Summer" in May 2021. Although I enjoyed the collaboration process, I decided to create a new project solo. I took inspiration from concept albums, such as Glass Animals' "Dreamland", and FKA Twigs' "Mary Magdalene". My goal was to create a narrative of an emotional journey in my project. On "Embrace" I reflect on losing friends and lovers and finding comfort inside.
During the pandemic, I emphasized developing my musicianship. I learned the basics of guitar playing and began experimenting with music production. I had many female pop stars as my role models when I was younger. Since then, my music taste has expanded, and I have been listening to more authentic music. I was fascinated by women like St. Vincent, who designed the first guitar for the female body (Gaetano, 2016). She is a remarkable example of what a woman is capable of with a guitar. St. Vincent was an inspiration for "Embrace" alongside The XX. The fusion of electric guitar, bass and sound manipulation makes for an engaging soundscape. The chords I play are at times simple, but I found they fit perfectly with my soft vocals. All songs on my ep feature electric guitars. The instrumentation is minimalistic. Out of five songs, only two feature drums and three bass.
&life, Waiting, and Silly me were co-produced by Paolo Aniello, a member of my band. Paolo has watched me gain confidence in my music and develop as an artist. I came to him with almost finished tracks and told him how I would like to expand their soundscape. "& life" features highly processed electric guitars, 808 drums and modified vocal loops. The lyrics tackle miscommunication in a friendship and time passage. The chorus reveals itself with each repetition as the narrator moves on. The vocals are panned and distorted to sound like thoughts circling in one's head. "Waiting" is an interlude featuring electric guitar, vocals and bass in the second part. It recalls the hypnotic soundscape of Squeeze. The radio-sounding backing vocals and echoing guitar mimics the feeling of being stuck. In the lyrics, I reassure myself that it is okay to feel and that I have time to heal. "Silly me" is the most dynamic piece of the ep. It is a lyrical celebration of commitment bound in shoegaze inspired guitars. The nostalgic soundscape on "Silly me", responds to feelings of uncertainty or anxieties (Gibbs, Egermann, 2021). A prominent topic in this project is friendships, so I included an audio message from Paolo. It serves as a reminder that the love we give does not go unnoticed, despite some relations coming to an end. The conclusion of "Silly me" is the realization:
You shut your emotions, but I felt it was worth it
I recorded vocals for the first and last track with Tak Furamera. It helped me tackle my lack of confidence in the studio. "Squeeze" and "Embrace" are the most emotional songs on the ep, and Tak's vocal production reflects that. "Squeeze" opens with a voice message from Will Kedge, who also plays the electric guitar. It consists of three verses and two hummed passages. The song builds up to an emotional climax. The guitar stays consistent throughout the song and amplifies the vocals. I used a compressor on the drums present in vocal passages to mimic the sound of a heartbeat. "Squeeze" symbolizes the beginning of one's journey when one is in numbing pain. Its repetitiveness creates a hypnotic atmosphere and represents the linear feeling of sadness. The last song of the ep also features an electric guitar played by Will and electronic bass by Tak. The lyrics tackle the importance of prioritizing oneself. Sonically it is meant to sound more hopeful than all previous tracks. "Embrace" is the end of a journey and a beginning of a new one. In the last lines, I acknowledge the good and bad parts of my experiences:
All these thoughts
In my head
Embraced
"Embrace" is about my journey, and at the same time, it reflects the emotional turmoils we all go through. It is a meeting point for "intimate and social realms." (Hesmondhalgh, 2013). The title is a double entendre. In the context of the ep, embrace means to hold and accept. The ep cover shows two characters, one of them is a larger, more experienced entity hugging their inner child. It represents acceptance of the past, complete understanding and support. I imagined these figures as myself in a moment of doubt, embraced by me from the future. I use delay on most of my vocals, recreating the atmosphere of a live performance. The echoes and distortion fill the space and serve as a form of expression (Toynbee, 2000). The songs replace silence with a meaning.
On "Embrace' I merge electronics with the singer-songwriter tradition associated with folk. It is different to my band's body of work. I released this ep as a solo artist. Partly because I am more likely to achieve commercial success as a solo artist (Lynskey D, 2021) and partly to test my abilities. I want to break some assumptions about female performers with my music. Culturally women are more likely to take on a role of a fan rather than a music maker. "Male fans buy a guitar; female fans buy a poster." (Bayton, 2013). I wish to collaborate with more women and prove that we can be fans and have fans. I could not do it for this project, so I teamed up with males who understood and respected my vision. Nevertheless, having the creative control allowed me to break through what Whiteley called "the framing of women as culturally imagined" (2013). "Embrace" has an emotional depth impossible to recreate by an invulnerable person.
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