Julie - My Anti Aircraft Friend

julie exploded onto the map in 2020 with their single “flutter,” which has racked up millions of streams since its release. The band’s genesis, however, goes back to the late 2010s when vocalist and guitarist Keyan Pourzand and drummer Dillon Lee were joined by vocalist and bassist Alexandria Elizabeth. Holding a mutual affinity towards shadowy and adventurous music, the trio played shows with local acts around Orange County in high school before relocating to Los Angeles in 2019 for design school, where they began writing the songs that would make up their impending debut album my anti-aircraft friend. In 2021, julie released their EP pushing daisies, which includes the tracks “skipping tiles” and “april’s-bloom” and proceeded their 2022 double single “pg.4 picture of three hedges” / “through your window.”

my anti-aircraft friend is a bold leap, both showcasing a louder, more assured band, while also attaining a core sound the band had been chasing all along. After all those years tinkering and refining their sound, julie’s forthcoming debut album is the work of people who have become steeped in alternative music’s history, learned how it works within their own musical sensibilities, and now use it to warp conventions and turn tropes on their head. Additionally, with each member of the band a multidisciplinary artist – Pourzand does sculpture work and Brady writes and paints, while Lee is also a painter as well as illustrator – the band deliberates and conceives every element of their releases, not just the music but the art and packaging, all the way down to what instruments they play onstage.

For listeners who came of age amidst global pandemics, tumultuous political climates, and a host of looming natural and social crises, the sound of a band like julie could equally be a cathartic escape, or a shelter in which to locate a better sense of self-acceptance in a precarious world.