Sometimes Julie leans into reflection with Transition, their sixth release and a brave six-song EP that marks a clear emotional and sonic shift for the San Diego–based duo. Monica Sorenson and Rick Walker step away from the fuller classic and alternative rock music of their earlier work and move closer to the bone here, settling into an intimate indie singer-songwriter space where vulnerability does most of the heavy lifting. It’s still recognisably Sometimes Julie, in their most soulful, melodic, gently rootsy, but the lens is tighter, the feelings closer to the surface, and the honesty unmistakable.
The heart of the EP beats strongest on the title track, “Transition.” It opens with soft, measured piano, Sorenson’s delicate, high voice entering whisperily, meant just for you. With immediate empathy in her delivery, as if she’s sitting across the room. Light percussion shivers in the background, never intrusive, just enough to keep things moving forward. Midway through, cinematic strings swell in quietly, lifting the song without breaking its calm. Lyrically, the artist lends a gentle but firm hand on your back, urging you onward, with the lines, “Don’t look back, no hesitation / You have earned this transition.” The song wrestles with self-questioning and truth-seeking, landing on the idea that some answers can only be claimed, not given.
Later, “Shooting Star” drifts in with piano and strings intertwining from the start, creating a fragile, celestial mood. Sorenson’s voice slowly gathers emotional weight, her phrasing stretching time as she sings about loss, distance, and wishes that burn bright and vanish just as fast. She sings about comets, flames, and wandering light, in poetic and painfully grounded conditions, especially as she asks, “When will the light find its way into the keyhole that’s my mind?”
Across Transition, the arrangements allow Sorenson’s personal lyrics to shine. It’s an EP about change that sits with the transformation breathes through it, and trusts the listener to do the same.
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Review by: Naomi Joan