Estella Dawn – Julian [Single + Video]

Estella Dawn‘s latest single, “Julian,” feels like one of those moments where you confess just enough to make your heart lighter, but still keep most of the mess inside. Her full-bodied voice pushes through with power and grace, gliding over every word with ease while still holding a certain sharpness. She sings, “Life shook off my wonder/I’m a little tired but/God you look so pretty on this mountain drive,” and you instantly feel that dizzy dance between feeling close and questioning if it’s all a façade.

The track starts off with a minimal pulse —a guitar strum and handclap combo. Bare-bones and mellow, it’s the quiet before the storm that’s itching to burst. As the lyrics take a turn, spiraling deeper into the anxieties of intimacy and self-doubt, the production stacks up bit by bit. By the time the drums and bass come in with a rock edge, there’s no ignoring the underlying tension. Then, just when you think it’s going to push that momentum into the red, it pulls back in the second verse, making the push and pull even more real.

Estella switches gears from soft restraint to massive, open-throated belts all throughout this piece, keeping you hooked. In the chorus, when she sings, “…cause what about when I need more?/ Feel cracks up the fault line/Can’t trust your intention/So I question shit when it feels right,” you can feel the weight of her hesitancy. “Julian” doesn’t give you clean-cut closure. It leaves thoughts hanging in the silence; moody, magnetic, and somehow, even in its simplicity, it wraps everything up in a tight and satisfying bow.

Connect with Estella Dawn via the links listed:
( Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Official_Site | Soundcloud | Spotify | Threads | TikTok | Twitter | YouTube )