Valerie June’s voice drew me into this album. I’ve never heard a voice like hers. It’s a little Dolly and a little Erykah and nothing like either. Her voice is wracked with vulnerability yet has the chops to run with any classic girl group.
Her songs and lyrics made me stay. The songs are beautifully crafted and move us through an array of emotions. The lyrics convey her stories yet leave room for our lives between the lines.
It would be premature to say I love The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, but I feel that feeling. If I do fall in love, if we make it past the thrilling first listen and that awkward car ride where it sounds totally different than it did on midnight headphones, then I will fall in love because of Valerie June’s imperfections.
Listen to the first two lines of “Fallin’”, those notes she drops on “love” and “else.” Those breathy absences of sound say far more about what she is feeling than any note could. What’s not there is even more important than what’s there. If I fall in love, it will be because of all those imperfections that aren’t there.