Imagine being moments away from packing up the only world you have known your whole life to move clear across the world to Italy to start over and leave your one true love behind possibly forever. Now imagine that at the very last second, your father, who you were moving to Italy with, stopped you and told you that you had to stay and fight for that love you were ready to give up on. That intervention led to this week, where singer songwriter Julia Wolf released her debut album, Good Thing We Stayed.
The captivating album will definitely stand as one of the most honest albums of 2023. Wolf found herself ready to give music up completely when meeting after meeting with music execs led to nowhere and after some just flat out stood her up. Those events inspired the second track of the album, “Get Off My.” The song finds Julia with a new confidence that stemmed from those so-called meetings. She could have easily given up and left the country to help run a family pizza restaurant, but instead, dusted herself off and fought for her passion. She had to learn to grow tough skin and move on to the next one after receiving no after no from labels.
Julia grew up rather shy in her New York, Italian household, but her songwriting on Good Thing We Stayed is proof that she is ready to jump to the front of the line and let the world know she is here. “Hot Killer” finds the singer ready to lead everyone to the dance floor this year. Wolf sings about how this new confidence sometimes catches her off guard, “shy girl, never thought I was deadly at all”, “I don’t throw parties, they invite me.” I need Megan Thee Stallion to drop a verse or two on a remix to “Hot Killer” stat.
Wolf spent a lot of her time taking these meetings in hopes to find someone to bring her vision to life. After some time, her paths crossed with her eventual producer, Jackson Foote. Foote, who has worked for Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato and Cheat Codes, turns out to be the perfect fit for Wolf. The pair kept the instrumentation to a minimum and rather focused everything on Wolf’s songwriting and whispery voice.
On the Foote co-written song “Dracula,” Wolf puts everyone from her past on notice. She sings about those who now find themselves ready to leech off of the singer as her light is starting to shine. “You got my notifications on, you takin’ notes” sings the singer about those wanting to attach themselves the girl who says “I’m ‘bout 6’2” in my Files.”
The standout on the album that Taylor Swift doesn’t have the balls to write is “Hinge Boy.” If Wolf is as shy as she has repeatedly described herself as being then that is all thrown out the window on the playful song. “Hinge Boy” is about a woman who is super focused on her career and does not have time for a relationship but still wants her carnal desires met without having to compromise. The contagious track is one many young women will adopt as their song of 2023.
From the vulnerable “Sad Too Young” to the girl-power themed “Sorority Girls,” Julia Wolf has written an open book that brings the listener inside of her world. The dynamic singer is ready to play her album on tour starting in February, but will first make her nationally televised debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Friday, January 18. Wolf’s tour starts in Atlanta on February 10th before hitting The Basement in Nashville the next night. @juliawolfnyc
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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