20-year-old Miami-based indie artist Julia Bhatt has released her debut album, it is what it is independently today. The refreshing new collection of songs is something that Bhatt has been holding onto since she was sixteen, accompanied by a handful of new tracks. Listen to it now below.
“I’m hoping this album will provide me with some direction and reassurance,” she said of the album. “I’ve been pretty rocky lately and I think I’m just excited to get it off my hands and into other people’s ears.”
Since Bhatt took her time creating this album, she was able to mine her catalog of songs from “newer songs, older songs, and even older songs… I wanted to take my time in making/releasing my first album rather than trying to push stuff out, but now I worry I’ve taken too long. I’m hoping this release will help me fall back in love with some of these songs,” she says. These songs on her debut album are an ear-opening concoction that defies categorization, Bhatt’s music is such a fresh showcase of her gen-Z genre-fluid talent.
The release of Bhatt’s debut album follows the release of the synth driven indie-folk track “Confetti,” a song about gratitude and the power of positive thinking as well as the fresh and carefree indie-pop “Karma,” one of the oldest songs, written around the same time as her 2020 single “Miami” when she was sixteen. Meanwhile, another previous single, “Cotton Candy” has a jangly indie pop sound and is about feeling “safe being on the edge and comfortable in foreign places… kind of like a rollercoaster”. She says that the airy folk-pop “On My Shoulder” was a very fun song for her to do as it depicts two halves that are constantly battling about what could have been, “One [half] is ambitious and strict, while the other is carefree and relaxed. I think a lot of people usually settle into one side or the other at different points in their lives, but they never really stop questioning each other. At least, I don’t think they should,” she says. “All that deep shit is translated into a digestible story that could be nothing more than a silly little song.”
She describes “Daydream,” as one of the simpler songs to create with a much simpler story. “It’s about one person in particular who I won’t reveal, but it’s about someone you literally can’t stop thinking about who is EVERYWHERE.” She says the synthy/slinky R&B “Sweetheart” was the last track Bhatt and Jacobson added to the album, “Elliot sent over the track, very similar to how it is now, and I ignored it for a little. Then I got stuck at an airport in NY for like five hours and decided, ‘Well. Might as well work on something.’ I guess the lyrics just came from being tired and traveling alone for a bit.”