Owls, Omens and Oracles
| Owls, Omens and Oracles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 11, 2025 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 47:17 | |||
| Label | Concord | |||
| Producer | M. Ward | |||
| Valerie June chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Owls, Omens and Oracles | ||||
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Owls, Omens and Oracles is the sixth studio album by American singer Valerie June.[2] It was released on April 11, 2025, by Concord Records.[1]
Background
[edit]The album was produced by M. Ward and consists of fourteen songs, including the lead single, "Joy, Joy!",[3] which was released on February 4, 2025, alongside a music video directed by Taylor Washington.[4] The album incorporates elements of folk, blues, gospel, and soul, and features collaborators such as the Blind Boys of Alabama and Norah Jones.[2]
Reception
[edit]| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 87/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Guardian |  |
| Paste | 8.0/10 |
| PopMatters | 8/10 |
| Clash Music | 9/10 |
In Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean out of 100, the album got a 87, which indicates "universal acclaim", from 7 critic reviews.[5]
Timothy Monger of AllMusic described Owls, Omens and Oracles as "a textured, grungy-sounding album, full of melody, soul, and inspired songwriting."[1] The Guardian rated the album four out of five stars and stated "The Tennessee singer-songwriter's joyful new album pushes back against the bleakness of doomscrolling."[6] Paste Magazine assigned it a rating of 8.0 out of ten, calling the album "a necessary reminder missing from swaths of contemporary music that happiness is just as potent a tool for beating back the darkness as anger."[7]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Valerie Hockett; "Superpower" written with DJ Cavem Moetavation.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Joy, Joy!" | 3:01 |
| 2. | "All I Really Wanna Do" | 2:43 |
| 3. | "Endless Tree" | 3:53 |
| 4. | "Inside Me" | 2:22 |
| 5. | "Trust the Path" | 4:33 |
| 6. | "Love Me Any Ole Way" | 3:15 |
| 7. | "Changed" (featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama) | 2:05 |
| 8. | "Superpower" | 2:20 |
| 9. | "Sweet Things Just for You" | 2:37 |
| 10. | "I Am in Love" | 3:36 |
| 11. | "Calling My Spirit" | 2:02 |
| 12. | "My Life Is a Country Song" | 2:39 |
| 13. | "Missin' You (Yeh Yeh)" | 3:26 |
| 14. | "Love and Let Go" | 4:25 |
| Total length: | 47:17 | |
Personnel
[edit]Credits adapted from Tidal.[8]
Musicians
[edit]- Valerie June – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1–7, 10, 12, 14), clapping (6), banjo (12)
- M. Ward – electric guitar (tracks 1–10, 12, 13), acoustic guitar (2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13); glockenspiel, piano (2); background vocals (6, 13), clapping (6), marimba (14)
- Kaveh Rastegar – bass guitar (tracks 1–10, 12, 14)
- Stephen Hodges – drums (tracks 1–10, 12, 14), percussion (1–4, 7, 12)
- Nate Walcott – string arrangement (tracks 1–3, 7, 8, 12), horn arrangement (1, 5–8, 14), keyboards (1), Hammond organ (2–4, 7, 8, 12), piano (2, 5–7, 10, 14), trumpet (5–8, 14), clapping (6)
- Vanessa Freebairn-Smith – cello (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
- Luanne Homzy – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
- Paul Cartwright – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
- Zach Delanger – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
- Sylvain Carton – baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
- Josh Johnson – tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
- Vikram Devasthali – trombone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
- The Blind Boys of Alabama – background vocals (track 7)
- DJ Cavem Moetavation – programming (track 8)
- Norah Jones – background vocals (track 9)
Technical
[edit]- M. Ward – production
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Steve Fallone – mastering
- Kennie Takahashi – mixing (tracks 1–12, 14)
- Pierre de Reeder – mixing (track 13), engineering (all tracks)
- Case Newcomb – engineering (track 7)
- Jamie Landry – engineering (track 9)
- Dani Bennett Spragg – editing
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Monger, Timothy. "Owls, Omens, And Oracles – Valerie June". AllMusic. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ a b Pearis, Bill (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album Owls, Omens, And Oracles & Shares "Joy, Joy!" Video". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Murray, Robin (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album Owls, Omens, And Oracles". Clash Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Pickard, Joshua (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album, Shares Video for Lead Single "Joy, Joy!"". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ a b "Metacritic". Retrieved July 13, 2025.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (April 11, 2025). "Valerie June: Owls, Omens and Oracles Review – a Soul-Recharging Exercise in Radical Positivity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Crump, Andy. "Valerie June Teaches Us New Ways to Resist on Owls, Omens and Oracles". Paste Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "Owls, Omens, and Oracles / Valerie June / Credits". Tidal. April 11, 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2025.