Electronic artist Echo Juliet shares new single 'Red Sun' & announces new record Abandon Reality
Electronic artist Echo Juliet shares new single 'Red Sun' & announces debut mini-album
Abandon Reality arrives on 27th October 2023 via Invisible IDs
‘A future legend’
- Jamz Supernova
'An empowering vibe with rolling percussion, moody synths and glistening harp’
- Mixmag
Echo Juliet is the project of Birmingham-based electronic artist Emily Jones. On October 27th, Echo Juliet is set to release Abandon Reality, her debut mini-album, via her new label Invisible IDs.
Born in the rural outskirts of Essex, as a child Emily dreamed of playing percussion on Later with Jools Holland. Following years of classical training, instead she fell for the allure of electronic music. Owing a debt to artists like Bonobo, Four Tet and Floating Points, her downtempo sound also draws influence from garage, deep house, jazz and soul.
“To be honest if you told me ten years ago that I would be doing this, I would have laughed in your face!” says Emily. “Self confidence has been a massive barrier for me. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up and it took me a while to find the instrument for me. As a result, there were some things I couldn’t do as well as others, but I just decided it must be because I wasn’t naturally talented enough. I got rejected by four music colleges to study classical music, couldn’t afford to try again and therefore gave up trying to be a professional musician,” she explains.
Following her move to Birmingham, Emily learnt to DJ and eventually produce her own music. “I had always said I wouldn’t be good enough to produce electronic music but my boyfriend bought me a copy of Ableton as a surprise so I had to give it a go,” she says. “I loved being able to use my percussion skills in a new way, then a producer showed me how to make a whole track and I was hooked. He helped me for free and told me to pay it forward later, so now I’m working to empower other women to give it a go,” she continues.
Emily has been an activist for several years, commissioning research on gender representation in music and appearing on BBC Woman’s Hour. She is passionate about opening up the music industry to more people from working class backgrounds, and is leading the Future Proof project for Bradley Zero’s Rhythm Section label which aims to improve representation in the electronic music scene. Emily also teaches music production for Saffron, and is a director of DJ community Selextorhood.
“I often write music as a way to escape something that’s bothering me,” explains Emily, when asked about the inspiration for her new record. “Most of these tracks were created in moments like that, from feeling so frustrated about social inequality to experiencing burnout and questioning my life choices. In the process of making each track I created an alternate reality for myself, where things feel warmer, brighter, calmer,” she continues.
The record opens with lead single ‘Red Sun’, a track that combines tuned percussion sounds with electronic beats and synths, inspired by the flat terrain and expansive skies of Emily’s home county. “I have so many memories of sitting in the back of the car staring out at dramatic sunsets over the fields,” she says. “I was also reflecting on the fact that we’re getting more and more red skies now as a result of pollution and wildfires, and that marginalised people are always affected most by the climate crisis. A thing which seemed beautiful to me has now become a warning sign.”
Abandon Reality is set to be the first release on Emily’s new label Invisible IDs, a project that began life as a platform to spotlight electronic music by women & gender-expansive producers. “There are a lot more women behind the decks now but most mixes still almost entirely consist of music by men. Currently we’re sharing track IDs chosen by guest curators via instagram, playlists are launching soon, and later this year, it will become a label with my record as the first release.”
Tracklist
Red Sun
Life On Trains
Eating The Rich
Burnout
Wave
We Move
Willow
Echo Juliet Online:
Twitter // Instagram // Website // Soundcloud // Spotify
