Under The Radar: I Am Snow Angel

I Am Snow Angel Head Shot with Kaleidoscope colors

THE BOSS BROUGHT US TOGETHER

I am snow angel headshot with staggered image and kaleidoscope colors

“I ultimately found artistic satisfaction when I began producing my own music and created “I Am Snow Angel”, which has a much more electronic vibe than my previous work.”

I discovered I Am Snow Angel in 2015 when I heard her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit “I’m On Fire.” The track was off her first studio album ‘Crocodile’—released in 2014. Since then, I Am Snow Angel, whose real name is Julie Kathryn, has continued to produce and release beautiful soundscapes that brings together an ambient dreaminess with euphoric waves of musical wanderlust.

As an accomplished songwriter, producer, and sound designer. She’s been featured in numerous publications and is currently on faculty at Berklee NYC teaching master’s level courses in songwriting and production.

Julie says of her work, “I am constantly looking for ways to challenge myself. I’ve learned that I love a challenge. I scored a feature length film recently (it’ll be out later this year) and I also do a lot of sound design work for software companies (ableton, cherry audio, output) and content libraries (splice, Bandlab)”

A HEALTHY DOSE OF ETHEREAL GOODNESS

“I continue to feel compelled to create music — it’s definitely not a choice, but something I need to do for my own spiritual wellbeing.”

I would compare her vocal style to the celestial Beth Gibbons (Portishead) combined with Hope Sandoval’s (Mazzy Star) sultriness sprinkled in. As far as more contemporary comparisons, fans of Billie Elish or Mitski would likely be into it. Julie has a variety of layered sounds that make up her music so whether you like indie lo-fi, dark wave, or even minimalist electronic artists, you’ll find something in Julie’s music to love. A multi-instrumentalist, she creates many musical mosaics that show the vibrancy of 80s new wave, the noisy soupiness of 90s shoegaze, and the cool chill vibes of trip-hop. Julie’s sound also gives off a kind of radiation of Brian Eno’s vast ambient worlds. 

Her website describes her sound as: “emotionally resonant soundscapes that evoke, in turn: alien landings, surrealistic dream sequences, nostalgic synthpop gems, and spiritual oases.”

Julie’s most recent LPs are the dreamy Mothership (2019) and Lost World (2022) which I think would make a great David Lynch score or a the music for a crime show like HBO’s ‘True Detective’ . Both these releases feature her signature sweet floating vocals that move the listener through a world of sound that covers you in the snowfall of layered sound. Along with the debut ‘Crocodile’, her albums give you different looks in the kaleidoscope of colors that forms her unique sound. I encourage readers to check out her entire catalog to really understand the artist’s journey throughout her career.

BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE RESHAPED

I am snow angel Lost World album cover

“I’ve always loved this song – and the whole 80s aesthetic – and had considered covering it for a while.”

On her latest single Julie brilliantly reimagined the 1986 New Order hit ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’. I Am Snow Angel turned the synth heavy new wave classic into a cosmic cloud of sultry colored steam that wraps you up you like a nostalgic blanket. It gives the song a different perspective that weaves the familiar melody into a new atmospheric musical landscape.

According to Julie the song came about as a lesson for her students. “I ended up creating this song as a teaching demo, to show the students ‘here’s how to compress a lead vocal, here’s how to write and arrange backing vocals, here are ideas for creatively using reverb, et cetera’ And then the song really became something.”

It’s a great homage to the original but still uniquely Julie’s. This is the same airy way she reinvented afore mentioned Springsteen track ‘I’m On Fire’ and ‘Crimson and Clover’ by Tommy James. 

You can find the new single streaming here: https://open.spotify.com/track/4OfFee5xSeJSTSsQANe3JA?si=WoAJs9b1SFeegQpsAvcaIA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A16JGpTxzZUzYVLI1IV0wU0

Follow I Am Snow Angel on Instagram @i_am_snow_angel

Her official website: https://www.iamsnowangel.com/

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3 responses to “Under The Radar: I Am Snow Angel”

  1. Jen Finstrom Avatar
    Jen Finstrom

    Thank you, Jeremy! I Am Snow Angel is a new favorite. Wonderful homage to New Order, and I love the backstory of how the song grew out of teaching.

  2. Rhonda Page Avatar
    Rhonda Page

    I can’t wait to check out her music!

    1. Pat Green Avatar

      It’s sooooooo good!

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