If you don’t know Julia Shapiro by name, you probably know at least one of the various projects she’s fronted like Chastity Belt, Childbirth, and the most recent supergroup Who Is She?. Today, Shapiro announced she’s releasing her debut solo record titled Perfect Version, an intimate and emotionally vulnerable 10-track album that came out of a particularly difficult time in her life last year.
At the time, she’d been touring with Chastity Belt on a US tour in the aftermath of a break up with her long-term partner and a health scare that required her thyroid to be removed. All of this compounded to be too much for her and the band collectively decided to cancel the tour. On return home, Shapiro found herself questioning her life path and what she might want to do besides music. During this time of examination, she quietly started to write songs without much intention for them. They now make up Perfect Version.
The first song to be revealed is called “Natural,” and displays the self-doubt Shapiro was feeling at the time. “How can somebody be so blindly confident? / I wanna know that trick / How can you love yourself so damn much? / It isn’t natural,” Shapiro sings in the self-recorded song.
Perfect Version is out June 14 on Hardly Art. Below, read the tracklist and watch the Matthew James-Wilson-directed video for “Natural” as well as Chastity Belt’s 2017 KEXP in-studio performance.
Throwaway Style is a weekly column dedicated to examining all aspects of the Northwest music scene. Whether it’s a new artist making waves, headlines affecting local talent, or reflecting on some of the music that’s been a foundation in our region; this space celebrates everything happening in the …
