Already championed by BBC Radio 1 and with an All Points East 2022 festival performance under her belt, Lunar June aka Olivia Judd is the writer, arranger, producer, and artist behind everything she’s touched to date.
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Naming artists such as Lorde, Lapsley, The Japanese House and London Grammar as her biggest inspirations, Olivia draws from her combined influences to mould and craft the distinctive sound of Lunar June. Combining elements of pop, indie and electro, she thrives off the ability to experiment with her music and the concepts and emotions she can portray through her songwriting. She draws in her listener by telling stories with expressionism and relatability but with an angst honesty at its core, all wrapped up in glistening electro beats and Olivia’s captivating vocals.
Following the release of her singles ‘lean on’ and ‘holding onto u’, which received support from the likes of NME, Ministry of Sound, Noctis Magazine and more, the Brighton-based artist is set to release her 4-track debut EP which tackles the trials and tribulations of a girl in her early 20s.
Produced alongside Luke Marsden, Olivia says, “This is my first body of work as Lunar June, and it was such a fun discovery process. I was hearing and moulding all of these new sounds, and translating and communicating emotions through music as I’d never been able to before. I think that was predominantly due to the fact that, for the first time ever, I finally bought my music for another producer to collaborate with. Luke saw and understood my vision and breathed life into their evolution.
This EP is a snapshot of a period of time in my life, capturing the things I was feeling and moving through during those months of summer 2020 – spring 2021. I was navigating relationships, jobs, lockdown and graduating university during a global pandemic.”
EP’s centrepiece ‘you/feeling’ was written at the beginning of lockdown and explores a situation where she was falling out of love with one person, and in love with another. She says, “This song was written as a conversation between myself and both of these people, trying to gauge how they were feeling about the situation, whilst also trying to get a grip on my own emotions and what I wanted.”
‘lose my mind’ is simultaneously a love song and a realisation of toxic patterns: “When I was in a dark place and battling painful emotions, I realised that I’d always look straight to my romantic partner to pull me out of it and to almost ‘fix’ me, and help to numb me out.”
‘lean on’ is Olivia’s love letter to herself and a reminder to trust her own instincts and decisions, while EP’s closing track ‘holding onto u’ is a quintessential anthem of early 20’s extensionalism.
Born and raised in West London, Olivia grew up performing in orchestras and jazz bands, which she describes being a pivotal lesson in understanding the importance of working and performing with other people; “It really made me appreciate the dynamic of playing with different people, and also to understand how the pieces fit together, and knowing when to play and when not to play.”
It was later in her teenage years that she began to uncover the exciting soundscapes of electronic music, and she set aside her acoustic guitar for synths and sample packs.
Olivia’s new EP perfectly encapsulates her prowess as a songwriter and her natural ability to tell relatable stories through her lyrics. “Now more than ever there is movement and theatrics – I want people to feel it. I like to make people dance and move and connect. But I only ever want to write something that’s meaningful, rather than just singing empty words. I want the emotion and richness that comes with the folk music I grew up on, meshed with the movement, hooks, and infectious beats of the pop music that I adore today.”
With the release of ‘faded/jaded’ on the horizon, 2023 shows no signs of slowing down for Lunar June. Watch this space.
