This month saw the release of a new album by Valerie June, The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers (Fantasy Records), which may be the singer/songwriter’s most fully realized work yet. Rolling Stone called it a “stunning song cycle of redemption and reclamation.” Essence pronounced it “a magical, country-soul offering.”
Ironically, for someone who has lived in Brooklyn for nearly a decade, this may also be the most Memphis-influenced record of her career. The city where she first honed her craft has always been an aesthetic touchstone, but, partly thanks to co-producer Jack Splash (Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys), June found herself discovering new things about the city’s heritage. After mentioning her imminent plans to return to Humboldt, Tennessee, to help her mother with the garden, the artist reflected on what she was still learning about the city where it all got started.
Memphis Flyer: This album takes a dramatic leap into orchestration. What prompted your new interest in richer, more lush arrangements?
Valerie June: I’ve worked and built up trust with my whole team, so they were like ‘Yeah, we’ll give you some backing.’ But that’s taken years, to prove myself, make the connections, meet the musicians. Like meeting [former Stax producer and arranger] Mr. Lester Snell. I lived in Memphis 10 years and didn’t even know who he was [laughs]. I felt so dumb when Jack Splash, the co-producer, said to me, ‘We’ve got to get Mr. Lester to do the string arrangements on this record.’ And I was like, ‘Who’s that?’ And he said, ‘You don’t know who he is, but you lived in Memphis for a decade?’ I was like, ‘Nope!’ But I went over to his house and met him and Miss Pat, and we worked on the songs, and it was so fun. From there we went over to Sam Phillips Recording. It was my first time being in there, working on my own stuff. And Jack made all of that possible.
(Photo: Renata Raksha)
The authentic old school soul of “Call Me a Fool” really gets a lift from Carla Thomas’ appearance on background vocals. How did that come about?
Boo Mitchell hooked me up with Vaneese Thomas, Carla’s sister, and I asked Carla if she’d sing on my song. And she said ‘Sure! I’ll meet you there at Royal Studios.’ Boo engineered the session for us. And as she talked to us, telling us stories about Stax and country music and how she loves it. I was like, ‘We’ve got to get you to read this African proverb, because your speaking voice is so incredible.’
And her singing voice is perfect. You can’t miss it. [Sings woooo-hoooo] All of that is her. It’s so good! So we have layers and layers of her beautiful soprano.
I needed her, because the record is a bunch of songs to inspire dreamers. I think the world needs more dreamers now, and as we look around at all the things that need to change, it’s like a dream journey. You always have to have what I call a fairy godmother, that wise voice. And Carla was the fairy godmother of this record. She might be the Queen of Memphis Soul, but for me, she’s my fairy godmother. She’s the wise voice.
Will you be doing a live-stream show to mark the release of this record?
Not that I know of. I do have a book coming out. It’s called Maps for the Modern World [Andrews McMeel], and it’s going to be in stores worldwide on April 6th. It’s a lot of poems and insights into mindfulness and sweetness in the world. More hopeful things. More presecriptions.
In the meantime, good luck getting down to Humboldt to do some gardening.
Yeah, I can’t wait! I’m excited.