Julia Sound displays a talent beyond words with her immersive and nostalgic third album — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The trip-hop-infused electronic music project from award-winning composer, producer and music director Lin Gardiner, is back with an eponymously album that features a collection of largely improvised instrumentals. Says Gardiner: “I was keen to explore the blend of some classic old synths, with some new plugins, so the textures here are mainly an array of Native Instruments and Re-FX mixed with classic analogue synths.”
While her first two albums featured guest vocalists on the songs, Gardiner deliberately opted for instrumentals for this release. “I love working with singers,” she insists. “In fact I think that’s one of my big strengths as a producer: I gave myself the challenge of turning this album around in a short time frame, and wanted to home in on some instrumental ideas I had bubbling, without getting tied up on lyrical themes.”
The result is an album that is both unique and freeing, sometimes leaning into flavours of ’90s and ’00s British electronica, as well as drawing inspiration from the wealth of female electronic artists currently enjoying their moment in the spotlight. “I wanted to introduce some harder beats than in the previous Julia Sound releases, which makes for a slightly edgier thread running through some of these tracks than on the first two albums,” she says.
This record also boasts Julia Sound’s signature sound: Mellow synth pads, touches of sound design, and smooth arpeggiators all tickling the ear, creating backdrops that could fit into film and TV production. Gardiner has been in Canada 20 years, living on the Sunshine Coast for five years. Born in England, she studied classical music (piano and orchestral percussion), but was drawn to synthesizers and electronic music in her teens, which influenced her career choice. She attended engineering college, one of only a few women, and began her career as a recording and mixing engineer in some top studios.
Then she found love. She met her wife in London, who already had her visa to live and work in Canada. So Lin decided to leave the music mecca and follow her. They planned to be in Canada for a couple of years; that was two decades ago. Vancouver had great studios (still does), but not much music business infrastructure, but Lin dug in hard and started working with an eclectic mix of artists, honing and exploring her skills as a producer and songwriter. To enhance her passion for collaboration, she segued into video game audio and dipped her toe into film and television post production. “Same skill set, different industries,” she says.
That ability to adapt and go with life’s flow is one of the primary reasons artists come to her studio, The Sound Garden Retreat, an idyllic hideaway nestled in a B.C. rainforest minutes from the Pacific Ocean. “There is a feeling of space and room to breathe and create in a natural environment,” she says of the live-in studio. “I have a good vibe in the studio, where I listen to what people want and work with them to create their vision. That’s why people hire me as a producer. I don’t put my stamp on it; I collaborate.”
Of course, this latest album is less about working with others and more about Lin delving into her own psyche and expanding the beauty of pure sonic lust. Listen to Julia Sound below, watch the video for Good Company above, and follow Lin Gardiner and Julia Sound on Facebook and Instagram.
