By Emma Page
After a nearly 10-year hiatus from writing and recording, acclaimed DC-based singer/songwriter Juliet Lloyd has released High Road, an EP containing five new songs, available on streaming platforms everywhere on July 6, 2022.
“It seems like music is the one thing I keep coming back to,” Lloyd says. “High Road is a set of songs that has taken a long time to come out, but I feel like I needed that time, that break, for them to be what they are.”
This album’s sweet country edge complements her signature R&B vocals, like in the first track, “Starting Something”. Her charming vocals against a homey guitar begins to take us alongside her on a journey down this high road. “I can’t help but picture how this ends, even though it’s just beginning, so don’t be starting something that you can’t finish,” sings Lloyd.
Its title track takes a slower approach to show off her upper register and vocal run ability. “I think I know better now how to use my voice in a way that I didn’t when I was in my 20s,” Lloyd admits. In this song, Lloyd tells us about the difficulties that come with being the bigger person. She takes the high road, but still asks “Why is it that I still feel so low?”. We feel her pain as she acknowledges “a thank you that I know I’ll never get” and brings us to an electric bridge. “We’ve all had that person that you want to tell off, and how it can eat you up inside when you don’t have the chance to say what you really want to,” Lloyd explains.
“Over You” is upbeat and sunny, which exemplifies “how I know I’m over you,” which Lloyd repeats to stand firm. “Lie with Me” then slows us down, as Lloyd encapsulates what it feels like to be so close with someone: “Nothing else really matters except you and me, let’s stay here forever, frozen in time”. She pleads for them to lie with her for a little bit longer, even if she knows it isn’t forever: “The space in between us gets bigger everyday, but let’s keep pretending everything’s fine”.
The last track, “Ghost Light”, a shimmering single off the album that was released earlier in 2022, is a strong finish to the EP. Lloyd repeats, “I’ll still be here,” inviting the listener to join her again on this high road.
“Coming out of the pandemic, I suddenly had this urge to write and perform a lot more,” Lloyd says. “It’s like I finally had things to say again.” And with this came an avalanche of opportunity, as Lloyd has found herself playing upwards of 150 shows a year around the D.C. area.
“I’m so excited to finally have new music to share—both with the people who have supported me since day one almost 20 years ago, and with those who have just discovered me over the past couple of years playing so many local shows,” Lloyd says. “And this truly is the start of something…or the restart of something.”
Find this and more exciting new music on our Alchemical Multigenre Mixdown playlist on Spotify.
Emma Page, a recent Journalism graduate of The George Washington University, possesses a passion for music journalism and storytelling in all its forms. Originally from Baltimore, MD, when she is not writing, she can be found at a local concert or making music of her own.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
