Eugene weekly., March 13, 2008, Page 49, Image 49

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Who?
Richard Julian’s latest album, Sunday
Morning in Saturday’s Shoes, invites the
listener to wonder about Julian as a
person: his inspirations, his methods as
a songwriter, the intensity of his gaze as
he collects moments of city life, reinvents
them into miniature plays and sets
them to unobtrusive yet fully realized
arrangements. Already a recognized
songwriter with four albums under his
guitar strap, Julian’s release of Sunday
Morning doesn’t so much mark his arrival
as a musical mind of note, but rather
follows a trajectory of quiet success and
mounting critical acclaim. A favorite of
fellow singer-songwriters Bonnie Raitt
and Norah Jones, this not-entirely-folk,
not-entirely-rock or jazz fi gure is breaking
away from the “less is more” trend that
fi nds many modern songwriters whittling
their words into the starkest possible
version of emotion or experience.
Whether this refusal to minimize is a
conscious decision on Julian’s part or
an element of his creative character, it is
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blissfully accompanied by the ability to
not oversaturate songs with self-indulgent
language or weighty production.
An amateur analyst might surmise that
the naked quality of Julian’s voice means
he doesn’t really think of himself as a
singer. Missing are the self-consciously
bent notes, the dramatic drawing of
breath, the glib mispronunciations that
pepper performances of more showboaty
vocalists. Instead, Julian is telling stories
that compel him with clear, intimate tones
and emotional undercurrents that fl ow
because they exist naturally, not because
he is manufacturing them. Sunday
Morning is his second release inspired
primarily by life in New York, the title a
reference to Julian’s morning observation
of a young socialite wearing an ensemble
that was clearly selected the night before.
Perhaps it is his poetic ponderings on the
hidden lives of others that make Julian
such a curiosity-worthy character himself.
Richard Julian plays at 9 pm Thursday,
March 20, at Cozmic Pizza. $5.
— Adrienne van der Valk
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EUGENE WEEKLY MARCH 13, 2008 33