Remi Wolf continues to exceed expectations on deluxe edition of Juno
Header photo credit: Haley Appell
Genre-bender, Remi Wolf is back on the scene with an expanded, deluxe edition of her excellent LP Juno. In 2021, Juno flew off the shelves of any trendy record store, and tracks were slapped into any colourful, feel-good playlist.
Lots of people familiarized themselves with the personality following the TikTok sensation that was Photo ID, followed up by a remix with Dominic Fike which elevated the songs personality even more, with added texture to the instrumental and vibrant vocals from Fike himself. She had everyone guessing where she would go next, with singles leading up to the release of Juno like the endlessly catchy Quiet On Set and Sexy Villain which soundtracked my summer.
Her unique inflections and vocal delivery, mixed with her funk and Hip Hop influenced production made Juno a special album – definitely one of the best pop albums of the decade so far, which coincided with the release of PinkPantheress’ excellent To Hell With It, another excellent fusion of genres with pop appeal. The UK’s own PinkPantheress makes an appearance on this deluxe, on the fantastic Cake, which also has a hectic video. The song is definitely a highlight from the expanded edition, with it’s jittery breakbeat inspired production and captivating vocals.
The deluxe kicks off with the mellow, sunny track Fired, with her well known tongue in cheek, quirky lyrics. These tracks couldn’t come at a better time, as temperatures in the UK soar. Whilst not as in your face as some of Juno’s highlights, it’s certainly a worthy edition to her catalogue.
After the aforementioned Cake, we get Liz, which starts with some plinky piano keys, but as the track gets going we’re treated to some more gorgeous instrumentals and eccentric vocals. Her humorous lyrics are bittersweet when contrasted against cries of ‘nobody, nobody, nobody calls’.
Perhaps one of the most exciting moments on the deluxe comes in the form of Michael, a grungier track that fans of Hole could easily bite into, with its slow paced yet chaotic Riot grrrl feel. It’s vintage 90s vibe has it hit all the right, nostalgia heavy spots.
The last brand-new track we have here is Sugar, and it’s as sweet as the title suggests. The production is smooth and Remi Wolf’s hook game is as top shelf as ever. It’s quite outstanding that this handful of tracks were left on the cutting room floor until this deluxe edition, as they all stand out and will for sure be on repeat for months to come.
If you continue to listen to the rest of Juno after the deluxe tracks, as you should, whilst the sun is still out, you’ll also be treated to a delicate live rendition of Street You Live On at the end, which wraps things up nicely as the curtains close for this exciting part of Remi Wolf’s career. Remi said in a statement, “I wanted the new songs featured on the Juno Deluxe album to act as bookends to the writing process of the Juno era of my life”. Continuing, “‘Fired’ and ‘Sugar’ were both written right before I started seriously working on Juno, while ‘Cake’ and ‘Michael’ were written right after the album came out.”
Recently, Remi Wolf has been busy touring with Lorde in North America and has many festival spots coming up, before embarking on her own North American GWINGLE GWONGLE tour. She also just headlined two shows in the UK, one at the iconic KOKO in London, and another at Manchester Academy 3, which we were devastated to miss after catching COVID.
She now continues her tour across Europe, and if you sadly (like me) couldn’t make it to these shows, grab tickets here to see her at All Points East in the UK this August, alongside the likes of Gorillaz, Pusha T, IDLES, and Nia Archives.
