your friend juniper - sonder (2025) Hi-Res

First, the “style” of the band name & song titles is all lowercase before anyone accuses me of not spelling words correctly. However, I admit, several of the tracks have a big, capitalized sound. Quite good. The Nashville-based indie artist has a pleasant, young voice that’s plaintive & appealing. The music is accessible & draws on topics that explore the rawness of emotions, and the idea that one is not alone. The songs are wrapped in Nashville storytelling clarity, in a well-defined perspective.

Some will listen & find the songs to be out of innocence, others may sense a serving up of optimism, & find relationships challenging. There are 8 tunes to sonder produced by Texas-born singer-songwriter/producer Danielle Moreland-Ochoa, who created a folk-pop, earthy, evocative & atmospheric sound that soaks slowly through a listener’s pores.

To sonder – is the feeling one has realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles.

With the opening lacy melody of “amiam,” the music is as distinctive as the fascinating, yet plaintive, Prayer Boat (“Saved”) songs from years ago. I’m often more impressed by an artist being creative & original rather than simply singing & playing well & following the same recipe as so many others. This music does not follow — its rootsy purity has applications that are emblematic of feelings & expressing oneself.

The track “talk.” While not as vocally smoky as singer Bird York, it has that elaborate vocal innovation. The quality continues with “preteenhigh,” a marvelous tune with its instrumental flourish & youthful-operatic notes delivered with honesty & emotion simultaneously. The layering of vocals through “little bodies” is also a well-conceived musical confection, different & stimulating. This isn’t mediocre, it’s committed, inspired. It sticks with a seriously oriented texture. Charmingly polished but not juvenile or elementary. The musical instincts are good & fully realized. A natural blend of varied genres, sweetened with plain truth.

With “covermybody,” the Bird York (“In the Deep”) references approach more closely with the soar of notes with deeper tones. Lovely stuff. The music never intrudes & what keeps this from being compared to, say, Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, is that there’s nothing mystical, Medieval, or dark about it. There’s vibrancy, meditative at times (“makesmehappy”), a pop-music competency that never gets commercially redundant yet, maintains its special musical Saveur.