ALBUMS // June West
June West’s self titled debut album is deeply grounded in place, evoking the hazy heat of the Arizona desert where she calls home while drawing inspiration from travels both real and imagined.
We asked June to take us on a tour through the album, and explain where she envisions each song taking place. The world she paints is full of mysticism, enigma, and chance encounters, and the journey through it is a quest for home. Dive in below ~
Island of Women – Isla de Mujeres, Mexico
A metaphor inspired by a real place, this song is about the exploitation of the Divine Nature of Women. Just as humans carelessly capitalize on Mother Earth’s resources, so does a Man take from a Woman because He feels entitled.
No Words to Say – Disappointment Way, USA
This song is about feeling disappointment in a way that no words can touch, as I wrote it shortly after the 2016 US Election. The politics of contention harden the boundaries between people, instead of building understanding that we are all a part of the same fabric. We are not really Free if we remain in the cages of rigid minds. What’s the word for ultimately recognizing we are both the lightest and darkest experiences of life?
What I Am – A thrift store in Memphis, TN
This song was lost and then found on a cassette tape in a Memphis thrift store, just like Johnnie Frierson’s “Have You Been Good to Yourself.” When I listen to that record, I remember the humble beauty of simplicity, as well as the restorative powers of self-love and self-acceptance.
Game to Claim – The dating scene
Modern dating can feel like a game to claim—the objective being to win possession of someone to call your own. To even participate and eventually offer oneself to a relationship, one has to be game to be vulnerable. In my own experiences, I’ve found that the journey of opening up, and discovering deeper aspects of my sexual and psychological being, is more valuable than “winning.”
The Comedown – A 24-hour diner
Like a break-up or a hangover, painful events serve as cautionary tales, reminding us that with high highs come equally low lows. There is only a subtle difference between a sexy and exuberant “you make me crazy” versus the tired and exasperated “you’re makin’ me crazy” that evolves with time. Like comfort food in a 24-hour diner, this song is solace for the inevitable flux of life, but also makes me feel a little sick.
Stonehouse Gunner – Stonehouse Pond, NH
I spent a summer in the New Hampshire countryside, cooling off most days at a nearby swimming hole called Stonehouse Pond. One morning, policemen with great big guns were swarming the entrance to the pond due to word of an “active gunman” on the loose. Strangely, I had felt his dark presence during my visit the day before. The Stonehouse Gunner found himself caught between a cliff and a prison sentence, drowning in his own pain. It is no surprise that the no-name man committed suicide, becoming another forgotten spirit to inhabit the mysterious waters of Stonehouse Pond.
Who Can We Blame? – My mind, Heaven/Hell
If I can’t change another person or their actions in any given situation, all I can do is change myself through mindset. Will I allow fools to hijack my valuable attention and belief system, or will I direct my conscious attention to see through the noise of other people’s works of fiction? How can I shape collective stories in a preferable way through direct action at any scale?
Green World – Planet Earth
This song is an ode to Mother Earth. My favorite planet, our home. Her motherly love flows unconditionally from a generous fountain, and with it inspires freedom from the chains of self-limiting realities. There is something about touching the beauty of Nature that evokes the profound glory of what it means to be alive. If you find her and fill your heart with her love, how can you then grow the hearts of others?
Midnight Drip – Köln, Germany
“Maskenfreiheit”: the freedom you get from wearing masks. “Bauchgefühl”: your gut feeling, just knowing. These were words I learned from a one-night tryst in Köln, where I came up with my own term, “the Midnight Drip.” It refers to dipping into the source of peace that exists within us all the time, though this truth of abundance is often forgotten and drowned out by the white noise of the outer world. You might go for a dip in the Midnight Drip when you’re busting a move on the dance floor, or in the arms of a 4am lover, or during a silent forest bath, or that moment you realize you have everything you need.
A Cold Wave – A place of Transcendence
This song is an extended moment for you to do something good for yourself—stretch, lie down, meditate, cry, dance… what’s the mood? The repeating mantra is about ebb and flow. We pursue, get closer to, create, and add richness in our lives. We must also know when to receive, let go, be still, or withdraw like the ebb of a cold wave. Please take a moment, choose your own place, to tune into your own feelings and needs to find your own subtle place of balance.
Buy June West‘s self titled debut here, out now on Broken Circles.