Valerie June
Owls, Omens, and Oracles
Concord
Released 04/11/25
Valerie June has unveiled her sixth studio album Owls, Omens, and Oracles, which follows 2021’s The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers. Produced by M. Ward and featuring background vocals on select tracks by the Blind Boys of Alabama and Norah Jones, the new album is preceded by the official singles “Joy, Joy!,” “Sweet Things Just for You” and “Endless Tree.”
“Everyone has felt moments of darkness, depression, anxiety, stress, ailments, or pain,” June explains in an official statement, referencing lead single “Joy, Joy!” “Some say it takes mud to have a lotus flower. This song reflects on the hard times we might face: to fail, to fall, to lose, to be held down, to be silenced, to be shut out yet still hold onto a purely innocent and childlike joy. I come from a heritage of ancestors who lived this truth by inventing blues music. Generations after they’ve gone, the inner joy they instilled in us radiates and lifts cultures throughout the world. From the world to home, what would a city council focused on inspiring inner joy for all of a town's citizens look like? As the times are changing across the planet, what would it look like to collectively activate our superpowers of joy?”
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