I have no idea why I become fascinated with some music and musicians, and not with others. And there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either. I don't follow music because someone is famous or a title tops the charts (though it's all too easy to fall for a song if you hear it on the radio over and over again). In the olden days I sometimes fell in love with album art, back when vinyl albums were large enough to provide enough room on a cover. Sometimes I watch a movie and end up loving its music better than the movie itself. Other times it just happens. I am in a certain mood, and along comes a song or a singer that matches that mood. The latter is pretty much what happened with my discovering Julien Aklei and her psychfolk music. She's a 30-something singer and songwriter that also plays the guitar. I've never seen Julien play life onstage, but that's the case with most of the bands I like. Given my taste in music, most of the groups I like have either disbanded or their rare concerts have become unaffordable. If I do get a chance to see Julien perform life, I'll definitely go. A life performance always adds another dimension to music. At least it does for me. When I first began listening to Julien Aklei, it was the somehow sweet, peaceful and innocently presented sound of her voice and music. It's a lot of high notes; a kind of pleasant trilling that can really get to you, in a nice and friendly way. Unlike a lot of singers whose volume and diction is such as to be unintelligible to the audience, Julien's voice is clear and strong and dominates without taking over. When that happens with a singer, lyrics become more important as you can hear them and listen to the story or the message. This is where it gets interesting, as Julien's lyrics are unconventional to say the least. That's because unlike many lyrics out there, Julien's are deep, meaningful and often downright shocking. They're a stream of consciousness that's etheric and emotional, sort of a multi-layered quest for inner discovery. Her style varies from song to song, and album to album. Sometimes it's poetry and rhymes, other times it's ballads and stories, and sometimes things get pretty surreal. Only, they're not surreal but very real. Her songs speak of pink and pagan and fairie, colors that are friends, the need to make love, and of the Goddess. She's a painter, too, and a poet, and all that shows in her music where Julien's painting with words. Does it all make sense? Does it matter? Does any music matter? Music is a door to the inner self, an emotional journey where logic yields to the swells and currents of one's innermost psyche, where altered states of consciousness rule, and nothing is real. Sometimes I listen to Julien's psychfolk songs and wonder what she means and what she's trying to say. Then her sweet voice takes me away and simply makes me feel, which is as music should be.
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