JULIANA HATFIELD SINGS ELO

 Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO (2023)

Juliana Hatfield

Bonus 7-inch Track List

Availability

The album was released on November 17, 2023.

Vinyl, CD, and cassette options were made available to order at American Laundromat Records.

Physical and digital versions are also at Bandcamp (including digital versions of the 7-inch bonus tracks) and the album is released on the major streaming services.

This is the 3rd in Juliana’s “Sings” series of tributes to other artists following albums dedicated to Olivia Newton-John (2018) and The Police (2019).

‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ was the first single released on May 23, 2023:

The 2nd’ single ‘Can’t Get It Out Of My Head’ was released on July 18, 2023 with a promo video directed by David Doobinin.

David Doobinin:

“I created cutout versions of Juliana to create layered, architectural visuals. I wanted the video to capture that restless, ‘caught between two worlds’ experience we all feel sometimes, while also highlighting Juliana’s raw and poetic nature, and how she embodies both awkwardness and grace.”

Juliana:

“David is really good at capturing my discomfort in front of cameras, and in the world. Making it all into interesting, moving imagery works great in the context of this song about longing to escape reality into some otherworldly realm.”

The third single ‘Telephone Line’ was released on September 20, 2023 with Juliana’s comment:

Some people might not know what a busy signal is and might not comprehend what it means not to be able to leave a message; what it means to feel essentially unable to communicate. But I do and it has nothing to do with technology. ‘Telephone Line’ is really just an expression of an isolation and a loneliness which music helps to make more bearable.

Juliana, in a quote from the album press release:

ELO songs were always coming on the radio when I was growing up. They were a reliable source of pleasure and fascination (except for “Fire On High” which scared the heck out of me). With this album of covers I wanted to get my hands deep into some of the massive ‘70’s hits but I am also shining a light on some of the later work (“Ordinary Dream” from 2001’s “Zoom” album, “Secret Messages” and “’From The End Of The World”, both from the ‘80’s).

Thematically, I identify with the loneliness and alienation and the outerspace-iness in the songs I chose. (I have always felt like I am part alien, not fully belonging to or in this Earth world.) Sonically, ELO recordings are like an amusement park packed with fun musical games with layers and layers of varied, meticulous parts for your ears to explore; production curiosities; huge, gorgeous stacks of awe-inspiring vocal harmony puzzles. My task was to try and break all the things down and reconstruct them subtly until they felt like mine.

Overall, I stuck pretty close to the originals’ structures while figuring out new ways to express or reference the unique and beloved ELO string arrangements. An orchestra would have been difficult or impossible for me to manage to record, nor did I think there was any point in trying to copy those parts as they originally were. Why not try to reimagine them within my zone of limitations? In some cases, I transposed string parts onto guitars, or keyboards, and I even sung some of them (as in “Showdown” and “Bluebird Is Dead”).

Recording the album was a kind of complicated and drawn-out process since I was doing all of my tracks at home in my bedroom (drums and bass were done by Chris Anzalone and Ed Valauskas, respectively [in their own recording spaces]), and I kept running into technology problems that would frustrate me and slow me up. But eventually I got it all done. A labor of love.

INTERVIEWS:

Amped, September 2023

I am drawn to the ELO songs that are about alienation and difficulty connecting with other people, like drifting through space. There is a lot of room in Jeff Lynne’s songs to be able to add interesting bits and pieces of sounds, not copy what they did but add them in like spices.

Goldmine, November 2023

Credits

Produced by Juliana Hatfield

Mixed by Pat DiCenso

Guitars, vocals, keyboards, and percussion played and recorded by Juliana

Bass guitar played and recorded by Ed Valauskas

Drums played by Chris Anzalone* and recorded by Chris and Ed

Drums on "Sweet Is The Night" were done by Jed Davis and extra drums in parts of “Don’t Bring Me Down” were played by Juliana and recorded by James Bridges

Lead vocal and acoustic guitar on “Sweet Is The Night” were originally recorded by Andy Chase

Artwork by Nicole Anguish / Daykamp Creative

Juliana’s ELO History

Juliana previously covered 'Sweet Is The Night' on her 2012 eponymous lp and the credits for the latest album suggest that elements of that recording are in the 2023 version.

Juliana also covered a Jeff Lynne song with 'Xanadu' on 2018’s 'Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John.'

ELO Originals

As is now traditional I've made unofficial Apple Music and Spotify playlists of the originals:

Apple Music

Spotify

Reviews

…her strongest tribute album yet; it may be one of her strongest records ever

Ray Chestowski, stereophile

The one-woman production preserves Lynne’s style yet dials down the theatrics to not quite garage band levels, making it one of the most successful outings in her ongoing covers project series.

Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter (3.5/5)

The brilliance of choosing to cover a band like ELO, familiar to millions across generations, is that simply by taking out the synthesizers, an instrument synonymous with the band, and replicating those parts with guitars and bass (with a little piano added in here and there), the sound is still vaguely familiar but redefined for another genre. The result is impressive.

John Moore, Glide Magazine

The indelible guitar hooks and high-gloss melodies of ELO shine through most on “From the End of the World,” though. Hatfield nails that deeper-catalog track and a few other career earworms from ELO, but her overall style is locked down and less theatrical than even her own recordings.

Kyle Lemmon, Flood Magazine

Fans of ELO and Juliana Hatfield will love this release; it is a record that can easily be put on repeat and won’t wear out your ears. Top marks here.

Andre Skinner, Spill Magazine

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