Junebug

Teresa Daniele mentioned that she had a certain number of tracks in her mp3 vaults for this solo 'Junebug' recording project that have never been released during discussions about the artwork she was collating for the recent The Haircuts career retrospective (the act being the 2004-2014 project she was in with Ryan Marquez of Golden Teardrops and fellow Subjangle labelmates, The Umbrella Puzzles). I was a huge fan of her simplistic vocal fragility (simply made-for-jangly twee-pop) so I persuaded her to send them to me. After just one listen, I sent the Canadian a series of e-mails begging that Subjangle release Junebug into the hyper-intelligent world of the cardigan/floral dress twee-pop that should welcome her with open arms. Between 2004 and 2014, Daniele recorded these songs, simultaneously demonstrating she was perfectly engulfed in the twee-pop royalty while still having the originality and the foresight to predict the evolution of the genre in the current era. As such, the opener, 'Day One', feels so simplistic that it evokes the essence of Kimya Dawson's Moldy Peaches era and while the core of Emma's House Revisited and Ungirlfriendable has a definitive jangly C86 drive and playfulness, the superlative stand out of 'Town and Country' transforms such incessance into Tullycraft-style driven twee. However, perhaps the most memorable parts of the album are heard in the triple salvo of A Place in the Sun, the simply beautiful Box of Rain, and A Promise, which marry the haunting, lo-fi melancholic twee-gaze of Harper to the childlike innocence of Daniele voice to give a beguiling sense of ethereal spectral. This is a truly special sound that we can only hope Daniele finds the time and inclination to resurrect.