(Concord)The Tennessee singer-songwriter’s joyful new album pushes back against the bleakness of doomscrollingWhile current global events would seem more likely to inspire dark or depressed music, the Tennessee-based, Grammy-nominated, Bob Dylan-favoured Americana singer-songwriter Valerie June is pushing back against bleakness and pessimism. She describes her sixth album as “a radical statement to break scepticism, surveillance and doomscrolling” with the aim that the listener will “celebrate your aliveness. Connect, weep, change …”Beatific opener Joy, Joy! uses the struggles of a planted seed to find light as a metaphor for how no matter what the situation, “you’ll find that joy, joy in your soul.” Nature references also drive Endless Tree, in which her anguish at “watching the news every night” is tempered by the knowledge that it only takes a single ember to “light up the dark”. Continue reading...