There’s an underlying pain behind ‘June’ that just adds so much emotional weight to the entire record. Zoe Butler’s voice, immaculately controlled and emotionally evocative beyond measure, takes front and centre on this poignant folk album. Written about two important people in her life, her boyfriend best friend, who killed themselves nine months apart, you can hear the pain behind the loss and the strength of the bond across each track. From the opening notes on ‘Shenandoah Blues’, and that chorus ‘If Virginia is for lovers, why’d you leave me here’ , I was inextricably hooked and yearned to hear the entire six piece EP from back to front at a single setting.
Zoe Butler sings about things that aren’t necessarily spiritual or larger than life, rather finding the beauty and meaning behind life’s simplicities and the mundane. Perhaps her Nashville background plays into that, given the style and themes of Americana from there. Songs like ‘Gas Station Coffee’ are perhaps self-explanatory in what their topic is, but the depth is to be found behind these superficially meaningless things that actually carry so much emotional weight behind the story. The pained yet powerful performance of Zoe Butler’s vocals on ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’, the minimal and restrained arrangement, and the vivid imagery that the lyricism exudes just makes for such a compelling narrative hook across the entire piece.
Any Americana enthusiast will find bundles upon bundles to be impressed with on June. It’s resoundingly powerful, but perhaps its the vulnerability and openness of Zoe Butler that really keeps you drawn in. With each song just containing multitudes within themselves, there’s never a point on the album where you feel detached, rather finding yourself increasingly progressively more drawn into her tapestry of stories. A truly wonderful talent in the space, and I wish her all the best in her journey of healing and I hope her music finds her the solace it’s finding me.