MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Land of the Free
Australian singer-songwriter Juanita Stein has been at the helm of rock outfit Howling Bells for over a decade but, in the summer of 2017, she shifted her focus, releasing her debut solo album, America. “We’ve been playing almost 12-13 years together,” Stein says, reflecting on her time with Howling Bells. “In any relationship, you feel like there comes a time where you might need a breather, to take time out for yourself.” And while the solo record diverges somewhat from what Stein calls the “darker, grittier” aesthetic of Howling Bells’ music, her vocal performance is still at the forefront, showing a range that stretches from husky ballads to light, lilting odes. The overall ethos of the album, as hinted at by the title, serves as a paean to the American spirit at a time when belief in such a thing may be waning. “I never sat down and attempted to access the
American canon; it’s just something that I grew up with. And it was only after I finished the record that it dawned on me that, in some way, every song on that record was a
direct cultural tribute to America,” Stein explains, noting how her songwriter father instilled in her a reverence for international-yet-American-leaning groups like The Band and Fleetwood Mac, along with a reluctant love for one of his favorite American poets, Bob Dylan. “I thought [Dylan] was a whiny, moaning, boring, old fart, and I just couldn’t get my head around why my father spent so many hours dedicated to this guy,” Stein says. “Having said that, now, I’m obsessed with him.”