Sometimes it can take years to find your calling. Not so, for wanderer Julie Byrne; whose power of lyrical expression and melodic nous seems inborn. But often, what comes naturally demonstrates against speed. Julie’s second album Not Even Happiness has taken time to evolve, but as it spans recollections of bustling roadside diners, the stars over the high desert, the aching weariness of change, the wildflowers on the coast of California and the irresolvable mysteries of love. Her new album archives a vivid world that would've otherwise been lost to the road and in doing so, Byrne exhibits her extraordinarily innate musicality.

New York-based Julie Byrne delivers her second album, a set of songs with an elemental beauty, hushed but not stripped to the bone, with strings, flute and synth all contributing alongside guitar and the central instrument - her vocals. Evocative, lyrical songwriting to be investigated by fans of Marissa Nadler, Karen Dalton, Nick Drake and This Mortal Coil.

By Adam