Written by Sophie Wyatt
Since her first release in 2019, Juice Webster has continued to mould her music into something that is quintessential to her. And in doing so, has claimed her position amongst Australia’s most exciting emerging voices. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter has carefully blended alt-folk undertones with rock inspired sounds to create what can only be described as something that speaks to listeners on both an emotional and sonic level.
Following her critically acclaimed album JULIA, this year saw Juice release her newest 9-track album Kind of Fantasy. The album encompasses everything from expansive, cinematic sounds to alt-rock ballads set against introspective lyrics. Bringing both old and new fans together, Kind of Fantasy allows Juice to fully showcase her abilities as a creative. Whilst it calls back to the softer tones of JULIA, it brings something more hard-edged while still being introspective. On her quest to find something real, Juice Webster discovered that there aren’t any grandiose acts that would bring back that feeling of authenticity.
A few hours before her live show at Sound Merch in Collingwood, we sat down with Juice to discuss Kind of Fantasy and the work that has gone into creating her most vulnerable project yet. While the stage was being set up, and vinyls displayed around the space, the buzz of release day was palpable from both Juice and her team.
Having learnt instruments from a young age, progressing into singing and writing her own songs came naturally to Juice. Starting out in a more folk realm, Juice explained that her newer sound is an “amalgamation of a lot of my earlier influences.” Being described by many as “alt-rock”, her newer projects have seen her take on a more raw energy; in particular her single from her latest album, Pretty Please. Describing the song as a miscommunication diss-track, Juice’s lyrics in Pretty Please are unflinching and hit home with its barrage of vulnerable emotions set against a somewhat nostalgic set of guitar solos.
The album takes listeners on a cohesive journey through human fallibility and potential. “What’s important to me is getting across that my music is an accurate representation of where I’m at when I’m writing something”, Juice explained. “And I hope people can resonate with that.” Weaving between, love, hope and everything in between, the album certainly paints a picture for us of where Juice is on both a personal and artistic level.
Following her album release and intimate performance at Sound Merch, Juice is going on tour around Australia over November. She’ll be performing in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong and Melbourne. To find out more info and secure tickets, head over to Juice’s Instagram. And in the meantime, you can stream Kind of Fantasy now!
