We Speak Music

Julia Thomsen Releases New Composition “Endless Summer”

Published

1 year ago

June 20, 2025

Emily

I’ve been following Julia Thomsen’s work for a while and “Endless Summer” represents another solid entry in her catalog. The piece opens with her characteristic piano approach those flowing melodic lines that have become her calling card over the years.

What caught my attention this time around was how she handles the development. Instead of the more dramatic builds I remember from her earlier work, Thomsen keeps things more subdued here. The melodies unfold gradually, almost conversationally. There’s something appealing about this restraint.

The summer theme comes through clearly without being heavy handed. Those gliding passages do create that warm nostalgic feeling she was going for. Also, her piano technique remains solid throughout, with a touch that brings out the instrument’s natural warmth. The layering of melodic lines creates nice textural interest without cluttering the overall sound.

Where the piece succeeds most for me is in its emotional directness. Julia has always had a knack for accessible beauty, and that continues here. The composition doesn’t demand too much from the listener either while still offering enough substance for repeated listening and it is the kind of music that works equally well as background ambiance or focused listening.

Streaming available here.

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We Speak Music

Phoebe June Traces Love, Distance and Heartbreak on New EP ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’

Published

11 minutes ago

September 11, 2026

Joni Jones

For Phoebe June, some stories are easier to tell through music.

Her new EP, ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’, is an intimate collection that traces the emotional journey of a relationship from the exhilaration of falling in love to distance, uncertainty, heartbreak and, ultimately, learning to let go.

Inspired by artists including Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, Phoebe June combines diary-like lyricism with melancholic ballads, subtle uptempo moments and an understated, emotionally honest production style.

At the centre of the project is ‘Thursday’, a bittersweet track about loving someone from a distance and holding onto the hope that the connection might survive.

Written after Phoebe left a country that held deep personal meaning, and left someone she cared about behind, the song looks back at the relationship from its beginning. Even its title is personal: the two first met on a Thursday.

The song captures the complicated feeling of walking away from something meaningful without believing that it necessarily has to be over. It’s about distance, memory and the possibility of finding your way back to someone, while recognising that hope only works when it goes both ways.

Across six tracks, the EP develops that story in sequence.

‘Everything You Are’ opens the project with the warmth of new love, while ‘Dead Sea’ explores the security of finding someone who helps you stay afloat through difficult times. As the story progresses, ‘Thursday’ introduces separation before ‘Getaway Car’ moves into the aftermath; unanswered questions, lingering attachment and the realisation that someone can profoundly affect your life while still being unhealthy for you.

‘One Day’ leaves the door open to the possibility of a future reunion, balancing hope with the understanding that some relationships may only exist in memory.

The EP closes with ‘Ophelia’, its emotional breaking point. Inspired in part by Friedrich Heyser’s painting of the same name, the track confronts the pain of feeling manipulated and unappreciated after giving everything to someone else.

The result is a project that deliberately moves from light to dark. Phoebe June considered not only the narrative but the emotional progression when sequencing the EP, allowing the brightness of its opening to gradually give way to the heartbreak of its closing moments.

Even the title reflects that feeling.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ takes its name from a flower, with the image of a gate separating two people becoming a metaphor for a love that remains beautiful but just out of reach. To reach over it requires effort, just as maintaining a connection across distance, uncertainty and changing circumstances does.

Ultimately, Phoebe June isn’t interested in simply documenting her own heartbreak.

She wants listeners to recognise themselves in it.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ is a collection about love, nostalgia, hope and regret and about what remains when something beautiful ends up on the other side of the gate.