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Julia Hare is a singer-songwriter making the rounds in the greater Chicago area. Feel You Beside is her sophomore album. Proceeds from it and the first album go to support her mission work with Rainbow Africa.
The album opens with the title track, Feel You Beside. This is a lovely song, a blend of power and tenderness. The piano is beautiful here, mixed way back and overpowered a little by the acoustic guitar which is the instrument of choice. The lyrics are taken from the Psalms, with Hare’s journey intertwined. This is one of the strongest songs on the CD, and a good choice to open it. Julia’s excellent songwriting shows up strong on Everything, a deep and heartfelt thanks to the Lord of all. It’s a song of humility and reverence. Everything is begging to be transformed into praise and worship, with scores of people lifting up their hearts and voices to the Lord as a true sacrifice of praise and adoration.
The Altar is absolutely gorgeous, from the first electric guitar twangs to the piano fadeout at the end. It’s very deep, and any who have suffered loss will feel an instant kinship. It makes you want to cry and cry out to the One at the same time. Caught is very short (2:09), it could have been a real gem, the ending of the song was wonderful, but perhaps she could have made that ending part a bridge leading back into the song to lengthen the track and have it reach full potential. $15 for a 10 track 32 minute CD is way steep, but remembering she gives her proceeds to charity makes it palatable.
Even though this is an acoustic album, there’s an alternative undercurrent running beneath it. That’s especially evident on Pressing Round Us, the most radio-ready of the tracks. Pressing Round Us has great potential as a crossover hit. I hear someone like Avril Lavigne doing this on mainstream secular radio. It has a great hook, and Hare’s voice is tender in places here, but powerful where it needs to be.
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Pam’s Song is a tribute to her best friend, who passed away last year, and to whom the album is dedicated. You can hear both the pain and the love in the lyrics and the voice. It’s a touching tribute. The mix sometimes feels inexperienced. Because it’s mostly Julia’s guitar, there is not a huge amount of complicated production. There are places on the CD where the producer should’ve been pickier, especially when it comes to pitch. Nowdays there are programs that can bend pitch, but generally Indies do not have such resources readily available.
The best songs on this album are those where Hare’s edgy voice is tempered with Rosalie Marvin’s subtle harmonies. They anchor her. The backups mesh very well on the Walls, a nice surprise to end the album. This is another cut with that wonderful alternative edge. Someone like Krystal Marvin could take this song and do it musical justice.
Throughout the whole album, I found myself thinking, “So-and-so would do that really well!” It’s a testament to the strength of the songwriting. Julia’s material could be first-rate in the hands of a gifted arranger and producer.
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