WNYC:
The singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield made a name for herself writing and recording her own work, but in recent years has amassed an impressive collection of tribute albums to some of her favorite artists. Following 2018's Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John and 2019's Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police, she's now out with Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, a 10-song album of songs originally recorded by the Jeff Lynne-led outfit. Hatfield joins us for a Listening Party.
Juliana, interviewed by Warren Kurtz for Goldmine about the new album:
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.
Juliana’s new ELO covers album is out now, available on the major streaming services with further physical options via American Laundromat Records and Bandcamp.
A selection of the 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
Juliana, interviewed by Dave Rayburn for AMPED on the upcoming ELO covers album:
DAVE: ELO is well known for its incorporation of orchestral elements in addition to elaborate production aesthetics. Can you talk about the challenges and creative choices you faced when reimagining their iconic songs in your own style?
JULIANA: I did have a few worrisome moments, wondering, “How the heck am I going to deal with the string parts?” I didn’t want to piss off any ELO fans in any way, by neglecting important elements in the songs. But I also didn’t want to just copy anything just for the sake of being pointlessly faithful. Instead, I thought about what each particular song needed or didn’t need, and then I worked with what I had and didn’t have, and made adjustments. On some songs I played certain string parts on guitar, or on keyboards. In others (“Bluebird is Dead” and “Showdown”), I sang the string parts, or parts of them. On some songs I chose to reinterpret in ways in which the strings were not necessary (for me) and would not be missed (I hoped). When I record any cover song, I like to play around with it at first, going over it and over it on an acoustic guitar until it starts to feel like mine, and in that process it becomes less intimidating to think of the original looming over me, and the song starts to organically become something that feels natural in my own hands, with my own style and personality. If anything feels awkward or forced during this early getting-to-know-the-song-vibe-in-my-hands period, I will let it go; I won’t force any song to be recorded by me unless it feels real.
DAVE: Who joins you on this record, and how was it recorded?
JULIANA: Ed Valauskas played bass and Chris Anzalone played drums (both are from the Boston area). I recorded everything else, on my laptop, in my bedroom at home. Ed recorded his parts in his basement home studio and Chris recorded his drums in his rehearsal room/makeshift recording studio. The three of us got together a few times in that rehearsal room to run through songs together and to get a feel for arrangements and for bass and drum parts. Ed and I were there when Chris recorded his drums but Ed and I both recorded our stuff at our respective homes, individually, after the drums were done. There was a lot of file-sending going on. After recording was done, we sent all the songs to Pat DiCenso to mix at his place and he did a brilliant job. He’d sent me first mixes and I had him tweak a few things but mostly he totally nailed it right away.
Juliana appears on Episode 134 of Al Melchior’s You, Me and An Album podcast:
Indie rock icon Juliana Hatfield pays YMAAA a visit to talk about the soundtrack album for the 1980 musical motion picture, Xanadu, which features Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra. Juliana talks about being a fan of both artists growing up, her Olivia Newton-John covers album and her upcoming ELO covers album and the difficulties involved in covering other artists’ songs in general.
Telephone Line is the third single from the upcoming Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO album, available in all the usual places including Spotify and Apple Music.
Juliana:
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, interviewed by Brassneck for the September 2023 edition of Illinois Entertainer on the upcoming ELO album and here on the question of whether she’s been writing new material:
A little bit, yeah. Just little bits and pieces of stuff, but not really putting anything together. So that’s what I’m trying to do now — I’m working on originals more, in a more focused way. So folks can look at (the ELO album) as a palate cleanser or maybe a brain cleanser. And next for me is, I’m going to put together a new album of originals, which I’m writing, and it’s not gonna be uplifting really because I am not in that kind of headspace. So I’m in a place where I’m trying to figure some things out from my childhood and make amends and apologize, just trying to resolve things in my life and work through some long-standing issues. So it’s not really an uplifting moment in my life or a happy, content period — it’s more like a transitional period.
Juliana’s new single Can’t Get it Out Of My Head is out now.
The video is directed by David Doobinin who is quoted in a press release:
“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 song is the 2nd track released from the upcoming Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO album and it’s lovely.
Juliana's 3rd album in the “Sings” series following tributes to Olivia Newton-John and The Police is scheduled for November 17, 2023 via American Laundromat Records, titled "Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO"
Here's the first single, "Don't Bring Me Down" :
The song is available now on streaming services including Apple Music and Spotify.
Juliana:
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
Vinyl, CD, and cassette options are available to order at American Laundromat Records
Juliana previously covered 'Sweet Is The Night' on her 2012 eponymous lp and the credits for this new album suggest that elements of that recording may be in the 2023 version.
Juliana also covered a Jeff Lynne song with 'Xanadu' on 2018’s 'Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John.'
As is traditional I've made unofficial Apple Music and Spotify playlists of the songs Juliana is covering:
We’ve got a new ‘Juliana Hatfield Sings’ project to look forward to as not so subtly hinted by Juliana including ELO covers in her summer shows!
The album has been officially confirmed by American Laundromat Records on a flyer in their shipping of the Become What You Are reissue:
Thanks to Eric for the info and while I’m here a big seasonal thanks to everyone who has been in touch and particularly Carlos Lopez for helping with many of the links for these pages. Best wishes to all in Jules’ fan community.
If this proves to be my last post of the year, I’ll see you in 2023.
