Album Review: Julia Blair – Better Out Than In

Don’t Forget The Tweed: Julia Blair’s Better Out Than In 

While keeping in view Julia Blair’s knack for slightly off-kilter folk, the artist’s 2021 album Better Out Than In is retro-cool– a warm production overall complete with throwback chunk rhythms, dry fuzz effects and crooning backup singers. Every track on the album obeys the fundamental rule of folk: have something to say. Blair’s powerful and at times twangy voice carries us through thoughtful compositions, ranging from slow shuffles to lullabies to rockabilly boot-tappers.

The first track on the album called “Relax” starts on a good lift up and introduces listeners to Blair’s powerful rhythmic strumming and vocals. There’s a bit of twang in the musician’s voice when she repeats “Don’t tell me relax,” keeping us aware of her roots with more straightforwardly alt-country bands like Dusk. It is a strong ballad to open with, containing enough tambourine and synthesizer energy to keep listeners guessing.

In “Wanderin,” Blair heads in a different direction. The song opens on a long train whistle, what seems to be a purring feline, and a couple of harmonica draw-bends. When the song picks up, the strummed acoustic, picked-out electric lead and plucky toy piano prevail in a slightly more shuffled ballad. When the pedal steel kicks in after the second chorus, listeners get to understand that Blair has a real-deal outfit playing with her. The song’s enjoyable, punchy drum beat will keep the dancing crowd going for days.

“Make The Darkness Go Away” is an anthemic song that starts with the song’s seemingly morose chord progression bowed on orchestral strings. As the track picks up with a more upbeat tempo, a chunky organ takes precedence against the song’s optimistic and protean repeated lyric “We all become something other than what / we want to be / in spite of us.” Be warned: when the backup vocalists croon, listeners may get chills and flashbacks to their favorite Dr. Dog tune. “If you’re too low / to find what you want in life,” the song asks, “then who even cares / if you try?” 

Blair’s Avant-Folk

One set of tracks on the album, “Lullaby One,” “Lullaby Two” and “Lullaby Three” are curious interstitial deviations. Spread throughout the album, modern psychedelia fans will appreciate Blair’s knack for avant-folk arrangement on these tracks. Each one features similar bits of droning strings and organ against a classical vocal melody, sometimes underwritten by ambient effects. It is clear from these songs that Blair has vision and control over the aesthetic depths of the album.

“Shy Dry & Dreary” is a 3/4 ballad with a dry reggae organ and thick bass. The sway might remind listeners of the last spiteful sip they took looking down the glass at an ex-partner. The song is a bit less poppy and upbeat than others on the album, but it speaks with a swagger. It leads nicely into “Just a Cue.” In this track, the band seems to have fun with a similar vibe to “Shy Dry & Dreary,” however this one is much more danceable–returning to the punchiness we began to love earlier in the album.

Other notable tracks like “Waste Away” and “Barbara” again show sides of Blair that listeners may not have expected. In the slow and hymnal “Barbara,” Blair mourns a death by expressing the deceased’s quirks and last wishes: “She would have liked for us to have / shrimp cocktail, lemon pie.” It is an honest and heartfelt tune, and may make listeners sad that they did not know Barbara.  The album’s final track “Waste Away” is a classical string orchestra arrangement, beautifully coupled with Blair’s vocals– this time whimsical and airy, backed up by a choir of ethereal voices.

Julia Blair’s Better Out Than In is a treat for the indie-folk and alternative country crowd. Devoted fans of Dr. Dog, The Microphones or Dawes will find a new friend in Blair as she and her solid band weave poppy threads into the already particolored tapestry of this peculiar musical space.