Valerie June is not a newcomer, she has recorded and performed since the age of 19 and already has 4 albums under her belt. She mixes blues, gospel and Appalachian folk, a style she calls herself ‘organic moonshine roots music’, but I had never heard her before!
Her new song ‘You Can’t Be Told’ is Starbucks’ Pick of the week, and after just a few notes, I got once again a strong Black Keys’ vibe! Is there anything in music lately that doesn’t remind me the Black Keys? It becomes a bit redundant, even tough the song is quite good. June’s new album (and debut album as a signed artist) ‘Pushin’ Against a Stone’ effectively features several songs co-written with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and I don’t think I need to check out if ‘You Can’t Be Told’ is one of them. The tune transpires Auerbach’s stomping swampy bluesy style at each riff. That said, June has a great and soulful voice, a bit Billie-Holiday-like may be, a stunning look (just watch the video below) and her last album received very positive reviews.
The style of the song is contained, there’s no wild guitar solo tearing the place down à la Jack white (err, I shouldn’t bring him in the middle of this), but June’s bold delivery, backed-up by an all-voice repetitive chorus and dynamic handclapping build a very catchy groove all along the song. But someone has to tell Dan Auerbach to slow down a bit, or soon my whole iTunes library is gonna sound like a very long Black Keys album.
The download code for the song on iTunes is: 4NJJEMMAJPKJ