Julie Lavender - Never Felt the Sun (2002)

Tracklist

01. Never Felt the sun
02. Stop
03. Veil
04. Tree
05. Tin Man
06. Morning Song
07. Velvet Arms of Midnight
08. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
09. When I Fall...
10. Here Come the Dreamers

On her second album, Julie Lavender mixes elements of folk, pop, jazz, classical, and new age styles on a set of seven original songs and three covers. As a songwriter, she comes up with melodic mood pieces that she sings in an assured voice sometimes reminiscent of Linda Ronstadt, though the major influence on her music seems to be Joni Mitchell. Her lyrics mix nature imagery with religious sentiment, notably on "Stop" and "Veil," and celebrations of family life. "Tin Man" is another reflection on The Wizard of Oz from an artist who covered "If I Only Had a Brain" on her first album, Good Woman. Her vocal treatment of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" is a nod to her mother, the soprano Lucille Lavender, and her connections to show music are delineated in a version of the 1950s standard "When I Fall in Love," to which (with permission) she has appended a new opening verse about long-lasting love, and Hugh Martin's excellent (if obscure) "Here Come the Dreamers," which closes the disc.

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