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Aug 15, 2019 Julien Chang By Christopher Roberts

Promising new 19-year-old Baltimore singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Julien Chang has announced his debut album, Jules, and shared a new single from it, “Butterflies from Monaco.” Jules is due out October 11 via Transgressive. It also features his previously shared debut single, “Of the Past.” Check out “Butterflies from Monaco” (which has a gorgeous Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear vibe) below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as “Of the Past” and Chang’s upcoming tour dates.

Chang self-produced the album and played most of its instruments. He’s currently in college, but the album began in his senior year of high school two years ago.

“The record was brought to life by uncertainty and experimentation, just like most everything else in life is during the summer before senior year,” Chang explains in a press release. “Even in the last weeks of recording, I was unsure of what kind of album it would turn out to be, but I think that was the point of making it—to follow inspirations indiscriminately and to whatever extent I felt.”

Chang adds: “The summer before my senior year was a really formative time for me. I got exposed to a ton of revelatory music, all sorts of stuff like Pink Floyd and Tchaikovsky and ‘70s Afro-funk and Gregorian chants. At the same time, I finally started doing the kinds of things you’d expect a 17-year-old kid to do.”

Of the album title, Chang explains: “I called the album Jules because it’s a nickname that no one ever actually calls me. Nicknames can give you something to grab onto, a sense of familiarity with someone, but in this case it’s actually a false familiarity. Just like people thought they knew who I was but had no idea what I was creating in that basement all summer, you might think you know me well from listening to this record, but the truth is that there’s a lot more going on below the surface.”

Jules Tracklist:

1. Deep Green
2. Of the Past
3. Two Voices
4. Moving Parts
5. Candy Cane Rainbow
6. Dogolouge
7. Memory Loss
8. Somerville Demo
9. Butterflies from Monaco
10. A Day or Two

Julien Chang Tour Dates:

10/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
10/28 - London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
10/29 - London, UK @ Servant Jazz Quarters
10/31 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique Witloof Bar
11/01 - Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden

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