海角大神

Valerie June鈥檚 new music embraces joy and the healing power of soulful music

|
Travys Owen
Singer-songwriter Valerie June releases a new album April 11, 鈥淥wls, Omens, and Oracles.鈥

Valerie June鈥檚 unique and soulful voice should come with a disclaimer: Comparison is the thief of joy.

It is certainly understandable why folks attempt to characterize Ms. June鈥檚 sound, closing their eyes and murmuring the names of eclectic Black female artists like Macy Gray and Erykah Badu. Carrying a tune is one thing, but how an artist carries it is something else entirely. There鈥檚 a way that Ms. June鈥檚 music resonates, like a hummingbird鈥檚 wings. It鈥檚 why christenings from and collaborations with soul music icons like Mavis Staples, Carla Thomas, and Bob Dylan only scratch the surface of Ms. June鈥檚 story.

The Monitor spoke with the musician ahead of the April 11 release of her latest album, 鈥淥wls, Omens, and Oracles.鈥 It features an effervescent single, the aptly named 鈥淛oy, Joy!鈥 and guest artists that include Norah Jones and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Instead of asking whom she sounds like, it felt more apropos to ask the earthy songstress how she makes such important healing music.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

With the arrival of Valerie June鈥檚 latest album comes a chance for the singer to reflect on her artistic journey 鈥 and how music fuels her, and the world.

鈥淚t is refreshing to start in a new way,鈥 Ms. June acknowledges in a video call. 鈥淲hen I think about the soul, and being a worker in the realm of soul music ... I just think about how it goes beyond just our personal existence, how it extends itself to the entire world, and how it is really a music to re-center people to their good side.鈥

Ms. June named the alliterative album 鈥淥wls, Omens, and Oracles鈥 for various reasons 鈥 the fowl component due to the nocturnal bird鈥檚 prowess in seeing through darkness. She is promoting the project with chops worthy of a second-generation music producer, having recently finished a on CBS鈥 鈥淪aturday Sessions.鈥

Her sixth album is 鈥渉er most gently ambitious and dazzlingly diverse鈥 to date, writes Stephen Deusner in a review in Uncut magazine. 鈥淔or Valerie June, roots music is never static, but a genre that can be stretched to cover any idea that crosses her mind. Her latest might be her best demonstration yet of that principle.鈥

Valerie June鈥檚 newest album is titled 鈥淥wls, Omens, and Oracles.鈥

The singer-songwriter was made and molded by music. She was born Valerie June Hockett in Jackson, Tennessee, to 鈥渟trict 海角大神 parents鈥 who were remarkably industrious.

鈥淭here are five kids in our family, and our parents worked us. ... When we weren鈥檛 in school, we were working,鈥 she says. 鈥淢y father had a construction company and a music promotion company, and we worked in both of the businesses. I was on the side of music promotion, and as a kid, we would go to radio stations and talk about the shows.鈥

Honed by radio feedback and gospel music, Ms. June鈥檚 humming soon made her a marquee name. She built a regional following down the Mississippi River and throughout the deltas 鈥 in Arkansas and her native Tennessee. It happened at a frenetic pace, the day jobs and the side music gigs. And then it all came to a crashing halt.

鈥淚 went to work at one of my jobs one day, and my boss [said], 鈥極h, you don鈥檛 look good! How are you feeling?鈥 She closed the shop, took me to the emergency clinic,鈥 Ms. June says.

Ms. June, who is admittedly 鈥渘ot a particularly religious person,鈥 found herself confronting a challenging diagnosis.

鈥淚 waited in the [emergency room] for a while, and I said, 鈥楳an, I can鈥檛 die. I haven鈥檛 made a record. I haven鈥檛 done anything I wanna do. I鈥檓 just working on getting there,鈥欌 she says. 鈥淚 was making conversation with the other side and said, 鈥榊鈥檃ll let me stick around. I鈥檓 gonna do what I need to do here.鈥欌

That sense of longing 鈥 and belonging 鈥 informed Ms. June鈥檚 earlier music. The opening stanza of 鈥淎stral Plane,鈥 originally written in 2014 and later included on her 2017 album 鈥淭he Order of Time,鈥 reads as such: 鈥淚s there a light you have inside you? / Can鈥檛 touch / A looking glass can only show you so much / Follow the signs slowly but steady / Don鈥檛 rush / The day will come when you are ready / Just trust.鈥

鈥淚 had a lot of dark songs before I started to work with people like Mavis and Carla and Booker T. [Jones], songs that were just about loss and pain and tragedy,鈥 Ms. June says. 鈥淢avis said that Pops [Staples] told her that she can sing anyone else鈥檚 songs, but they [must] have a positive message, because their purpose was to lift people up.

鈥淪he asked me for some songs, and I only had two positive songs out of 150,鈥 she adds. 鈥淪he chose one of the songs, and the Blind Boys of Alabama chose the other one. After that, the universe just started sending me songs with positive messages.鈥

The opening stanza to 鈥淛oy, Joy!鈥 answers 鈥淎stral Plane鈥 in kind, and she admits the two records are 鈥渟ister songs鈥: 鈥淭here is a light you can see / That is wanting to be free / A hidden light deep inside / Learn to trust your spirit guide / There is a light you can find / If you stop to take the time / Know when it鈥檚 right, rise and shine / The seas will part, the stars align.鈥

She lives between Tennessee and New York, a reflection on great migrations and her own personal journey. She is simultaneously organic and modernized, both city and country mouse. She sees omens whenever she passes the name 鈥淓merson,鈥 which was her late father鈥檚 name, and she herself has become an oracle, making a path for the next generation like her ancestors did for her.

鈥淲hen I think about oracles ... I think about what the Indigenous elders always say, and that is to think about our actions, everything from brushing our teeth to taking out the trash to going to the post office,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hink about it and how it will affect people seven generations from now. If we鈥檙e thinking that way, then we know that we are the ancestors in the making.鈥

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines 鈥 with humanity. Listening to sources 鈥 with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That鈥檚 Monitor reporting 鈥 news that changes how you see the world.
QR Code to Valerie June鈥檚 new music embraces joy and the healing power of soulful music
Read this article in
/The-Culture/Music/2025/0410/valerie-june-owls-omens-oracles-album
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
/subscribe