FEATURE:
Revisiting...
Remi Wolf - Juno
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ONE of the best albums of 2021…
PHOTO CREDIT: Jessie Morgan for NME
and undoubtedly one of the finest debut albums, Remi Wolf’s Juno is an aural delight. So colourful, original and bursting with brilliance, it got plenty of great reviews when it was released. Since it was released on 15th October, 2021, I wonder how many people still discuss it. You occasionally hear songs from it on the radio, but Juno warrants more wider appreciation and focus. I will come to two very positive reviews for the album in a minute. First, I want to highlight some interviews. NOTION chatted with Wolf about “her dreams of getting rained on at Glastonbury, the electricity of the New York City music scene, recording her songs in Simlish, and her mental struggles during the pandemic”:
“So, you’re allergic to dogs. How long have you had Juno for – I’m assuming he’s hypoallergenic?
He’s not. I’ve had him since, like, the first week of Covid. So, beginning of 2020. He’s been with my parents for the past two months because I’ve been touring, and they love him so it’s an easy little trade-off. And I’m going back on the road again in like five days, so he stayed with them because they’re all the way up in the Bay Area and I’m working a lot right now. Hopefully I’ll see him really soon. I am allergic to him; it’s kind of a bummer. I kind of just power through it. He’s a beautiful baby.
And were you always going to name the album after him?
No. It was kind of all formulated during the middle of the album process. We kind of got to the end of the album and I was like, ‘damn, what am I gonna name this?’ and Juno was like, there, the whole time. He was with me for every single song I wrote on this record. His name was always in my head. I was screaming his name over and over. And then I just decided that I was gonna name it “Juno”.
You’ve mentioned in a few of your interviews that you’re a perfectionist, yet your music has been described as sort of “hippie chaotic”. How do you find perfectionism in chaos? Or how would you define it?
First of all, I don’t think the perfectionism thing is a good thing. I think it’s something that holds me back a lot of the time. But also, I just hear specific things and I know how I want things to sound and maybe to other people what I hear is chaotic but to me it’s very organised. It’s like a very organised chaos in my head. There’s a certain point within the song creation process when I have a very clear vision in terms of how I want it to sound. I’ll run myself crazy trying to get that. You never really quite nail it, at all. My brain goes a little nuts. I see and hear it and I try to get that into the song and into the computer as quickly as possible. It’s not chaotic in my brain. My brain moves really quickly. The musical ideas and the lyrics and what I’m trying to talk about in my head is very organised. In my head it’s all makin’ sense!
Do you think the tension and isolation of recording during the pandemic helped to birth or hinder Juno?
Definitely birth. I mean, it was horrible. Isolation was awful. I was really, super depressed and super existential which luckily, I was able to channel into something. I’m so much happier being out of isolation right now, it’s insane. When we were all in it, it was hard to attribute the bad feelings and the spinout. For me, it was hard to attribute it to the quarantine, I was like – what’s wrong with me? Why am I not able to feel OK when everybody online is so fucking positive? Everybody was on this weird toxic positive health shit. It felt like I was doing something wrong because I felt so bad. But now that I’m out, it was all quarantine. We’re not built to live like that as humans, we need contact – we need to go outside and experience things. So yeah, I think it was great for my art – horrible for me personally. It got bad online. People were a little preach-y. It was hard to wake up and do anything or get anything done. I felt so defeated.
Are you already working on your next album? Can you tell us anything about it?
I’m putting together a Deluxe album right now which will have some new tunes. I’m working on a lot of music right now. Who knows how it’s all going to formulate? I’m pumped. I’m trying to find myself again with my writing. I’m shooting my shot at a lot of different stuff and I’m working with a lot of different people and I’m trying to re-figure out what feels good to me. I’m in my experimental phase of life. A lot of fun to be had and so many things to learn. This whole year, I’m touring in a bunch of places I’ve never been before in my life. I’m going into waters I’ve never been in. I think it’s gonna be a big learning year for me”.
Charmingly, whilst spending a day decorating cakes in London (as you do!), DAZED caught up with Remi Wolf. She talked about the ups and downs of growing up, music-making, and her time in rehab. It is more insight into an artist who created a simply magnificent debut album in 2021 with Juno:
“The original record, Juno, was largely written over the pandemic. “I didn’t really have the typical sit and stew for two years,” she says; instead, the musician dove head-first into her work after a meteoric rise to fame. In February, she signed her first record deal with Island Records and Virgin EMI Records; in April, she released the funky soul-pop banger “Photo ID” which immediately went viral on TikTok; and in June, she dropped her second EP I’m Allergic to Dogs and wrote Juno’s first two tracks. “In the height of COVID lockdown and fear… my career was a career all (of) the sudden,” she wrote on Twitter. At the same time – after recognising that she had a drinking problem – she checked herself into rehab for four months, got sober, and moved back to LA to finish the record.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Bertolino
“It’s a very transitional album,” Wolf tells me, explaining how all the thoughts, feelings, and inner turmoils that were going on at that time are reflected in the music. “The songs are just pure depictions of my life changing in real time… everything went into (it).” In fact, the record’s opening track “Liquor Store” – which depicts the pop star’s fear of abandonment and dependencies on alcohol through colourful harmonies and groovy guitar licks – was written and recorded with friend and co-producer Jared Solomon (Solomonophonic) mid-way through experiencing a mental health episode linked to her newfound sobriety.
“The beginning of the day I wrote ‘Liquor Store’ were some of the worst, most necessary hours I had ever lived through,” Wolf wrote in a series of journal entry-style graphics posted on social media, commemorating the song’s first birthday by providing candid context behind its lyrics and resources for those struggling with addiction, themselves. “It was that day that I really started to understand on a deeper level the healing power that music had on me and how much I need it.” In the next two days, Wolf and Jared wrote three more Juno tracks – “Anthony Kiedis”, “wyd”, and “Grumpy Old Man” – injecting the same explosive, pent-up energy used to create “Liquor Store” into each song”.
I shall round it off with a couple of reviews. Critics were hugely positive of this amazing album. Juno is definitely one of the best albums from 2021. Remi Wolf is a spectacular talent who I can’t wait to hear what she does on her second album (there has been no announcement yet). This is what DORK noted in their review:
“Generally, new artists will still be trying to establish who they are. The confidence of getting over those early bars might persuade them it’s okay to put more of themselves forwards. Open up creatively. Maybe even get a bit weird. With her debut album ‘Juno’, Remi is leaving nothing out. Sass, swagger and a choice bit of swearing, it’s not just her music that’s an absolute riot.
Opening track ‘Liquor Store’ sets the scene perfectly. Bold, bright and brash, it throws around ‘motherfuckers’ like good cuss words are on buy one get two free. From the word go, Remi’s here for an infectiously good time. ‘wyd’ hip-shakes like a beachfront tango after a round of fruity cocktails, while ‘Guerrilla’ fizzes like popping candy. There’s no step off the gas, no boring pause for breath.
It’s this always on neon-glare that sets Remi Wolf apart from her peers. Gen Z’s pop troupe is packed with potential future icons. They’re vocal, vibrant and unconcerned with putting it all on the table – but nobody else does it with quite the same panache. Even when sticking closer to the group – take ‘Volkiano’’s hi-fi pop middle section, for example – there’s still a twinkle in the eye that suggests it won’t be long until we’re back cursing like sailors and making anyone with earshot blush beetroot red. Like that friend that always makes everyone else feel great, Remi Wolf is the seretonin shot 2021 needed. The next greatest pop star on the planet has arrived.
5/5”.
I’ll end with The Line of Best Fit’s take on the mighty Juno. It is an album that I loved when it came out in 2021. I still listen to it now, and I feel more people should too. It certainly warrants more time on radio stations’ schedules:
“A colourful kick to the face, there’s nothing junior about Remi Wolf’s debut album. Riding on the viral waves of TikTok, “Photo ID” brought the vibrant energy of Wolf to the masses. Now, Juno plays with the parameters of pop, combining traditional structures with experimental upbeat melodies and funk.
Wolf’s debut veers into hyper indie. She toys with space as hi-hats echo on “Anthony Kiedis”. Proclaiming her love for the Red Hot Chilli Pepper lead singer as well as her family, her vocals are completely encapsulating. The production is super tight and creativity seeps into the mix with funky licks of guitar and infectious drums. The alt vibe rears its head again on “Buttermilk” which floats along as easily as an old Vampire Weekend B-side. The record’s more gentle closing tracks may not be as energetic but aren’t any less danceable. In any case, they highlight the honest streak that is prevalent in the more relaxed tracks.
Juno’s playfulness defines Wolf’s first record. Parallels can be drawn between Wolf and Doja Cat whose take on pop has consisted of balancing honest real life experiences with fun buoyant music. Soundbytes bring a smile to your face as dolphins’ chatter, superheroes throw punches and camera shutters click. Wolf doesn’t shy away from humour especially in her lyrics. Comparing a fight to being in the ring with Conor McGregor on “Front Tooth” and including a kid’s monologue of being kidnapped on “Quiet on Set” is surreal but these moments make Juno shine.
The scope of Juno is massive. She takes on a Texan persona on one verse followed by a space cowboy on “Grumpy Old Man”. Charli XCX-inspired auto tune sneakily slips in on ‘Sally’ and “Quiet on Set” could fit right in with MTV’s coverage of R&B classics like Missy Elliot and Ludacris. Dub bass grinds up against slink synths and shows Wolf’s versatility. Charistmatically stepping onto the scene with an unmistakable presence in an era of reclaiming confidence is not an easy feat but Remi Wolf has delivered a debut that is powered by a true liveliness to be fun and real”.
I wanted to return to Juno for this Revisiting…, as it is an album that I really love and has so much terrific moments. Quiet on Set was one of my favourite songs of 2021. A song that hits you when you listen to it and does not let go! It is swaggering and cool. Even ending with some baby-like vocal impressions (I wonder whether Wolf was inspired by Prince’s 1999, as the track ends with a similar sound). If you have not discovered Juno, take some time out and give this magnificent album…
A fresh spin.