Julia Kugel of The Coathangers released her debut solo LP “Derealization” under a new moniker, Julia, Julia. The LP includes dreamy and captivating recently released singles: “Do It Or Don’t”, “No Hard Feelings”, “Fever In My Heart”.
Recorded at COMA, her and her husband’s home studio in Long Beach, CA, the album was a large part of healing for Kugel, after losing her voice. It also sees Julia playing nearly all the instruments and taking her first stab at engineering.
“Derealization” feeling detached from one’s surroundings; a conscious confusion about the “realness” of surrounding people and objects: a feeling of observing oneself outside of one’s body: feeling like one is living in a dream. This is the crucial question at the core of Julia, Julia, the moniker for Julia Kugel, founding member of garage punk icons The Coathangers and the dream pop duo Soft Palms.
On her first solo full-length album “Derealization“, Kugel shifts her focus from collaboration and band dynamics towards a singular artistic vision and private self-discovery. Steeped in the beguiling pop elements of her past work, “Derealization” is a meditative deep dive into the mind of a person struggling to understand a crumbling internal and external world. The album traverses a landscape of ethereal folk, atmospheric deconstructed pop, and dubbedout country ballads, all centered around straightforward and direct lyrics. This juxtaposition of nebulousness and lucidity gives the album a sense of clarity emerging from the haze, an apt reflection of Kugel’s personal growth and journey toward self-acceptance.
This raw and personal approach to the lyrics is present throughout “Derealization“. On the opening track “I Want You,” Kugel creates a woozy sense of space with reverb-soaked drums and spaghetti western guitars while she lists off her desires for a mysterious “you.” Is she actually listing off her desires for herself? For the people around her? As she repeats “do you feel it?” in the song’s chorus, it feels as if she’s conjuring a magical thread by which we are all connected, showing us how our desires are all the same. On “Fever In My Heart” the listener is treated to a lush, acoustic techno track detailing the exhilarating madness of an emotional breakdown. Simple truths percolate to the surface on “Words Don’t Mean Much,” as if clearing away the murk of platitudes and empty gestures. The journey continues on the detached and conflicted “Do It Or Don’t,” an alluring walk through the winding road of lonely choices. The final four tracks on the album originally appeared as limited edition releases under the White Woods moniker and serve as a tether between the present and past.
...the debut solo record from Julia Kugel as Julia, Julia is shaping up to be a meditative—if not downright peaceful—capsule of the songwriter’s more introspective side.” – FLOOD Magazine
“While her previous work rested on the rambunctious and energetic side, she steers in the opposite direction with this new single, offering a more intimate and psychedelic experience. “Fever in My Heart” is like a drug that keeps drawing you deeper and deeper into its reign.” – Consequence
“…a cryptic, atmospheric tune about feeling completely ungrounded, but liking the freedom of being untethered from the rest of the world.” – Grimy Goods
Julia, Julia “Derealization” out September 30, 2022 on Suicide Squeeze Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 