Giulia Millanta - Moonbeam Parade (2016)

"Moonbeam Parade" is the fifth studio album by Italian-American singer Giulia Millanta, released on September 9, 2016, on her own independent label, Ugly Cat Music.

While her previous album, "The Funambulist," chronicled her first steps and acclimation to Texas, "Moonbeam Parade" marked a moment of complete musical maturity. This is the first album for which Giulia herself picked up electric guitar, which noticeably heavier and changed her traditional indie-folk style. The album was ranked among the top 10 best Americana releases of the year by Classicalite.

The main technical feature of "Moonbeam Parade" is its completely live-in-the-studio recording. Julia assembled an outstanding lineup of musicians in Austin (including Charlie Sexton, who worked with Bob Dylan, and members of Jeff Buckley and Howe Gelb's projects). The entire band played simultaneously in one room, and the singer herself left the final vocal takes virtually unpolished and un-Auto-Tuned. In her words, this album is "about getting lost and then finding your way out; about defeat and rebirth, without fear of strong emotions."

The album is intimate, sometimes uncomfortable, but incredibly captivating. It finally cemented Julia Millanta's status as a "musical tightrope walker," equally at home in a dusty Texas saloon and on the stage of Europe.