Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO
Catalog Number: ALR-0061
Release Date: 11/17/2023
- Sweet Is The Night
- Can't Get It Out Of My Head
- Showdown
- Strange Magic
- Don't Bring Me Down
- Telephone Line
- Secret Messages
- Bluebird Is Dead
- From The End Of The World
- Ordinary Dream
7-Inch Track List:
A. I'm Alive
B. When I Was A Boy
"ELO songs were always coming on the radio when I was growing up. They were a reliable source of pleasure and fascination (except for “Fire On High” which scared the heck out of me). With this album of covers I wanted to get my hands deep into some of the massive ‘70’s hits but I am also shining a light on some of the later work (“Ordinary Dream” from 2001’s “Zoom” album, “Secret Messages” and “’From The End Of The World”, both from the ‘80’s).
Thematically, I identify with the loneliness and alienation and the outerspace-iness in the songs I chose. (I have always felt like I am part alien, not fully belonging to or in this Earth world.) Sonically, ELO recordings are like an amusement park packed with fun musical games with layers and layers of varied, meticulous parts for your ears to explore; production curiosities; huge, gorgeous stacks of awe-inspiring vocal harmony puzzles. My task was to try and break all the things down and reconstruct them subtly until they felt like mine.
Overall, I stuck pretty close to the originals’ structures while figuring out new ways to express or reference the unique and beloved ELO string arrangements. An orchestra would have been difficult or impossible for me to manage to record, nor did I think there was any point in trying to copy those parts as they originally were. Why not try to reimagine them within my zone of limitations? In some cases, I transposed string parts onto guitars, or keyboards, and I even sung some of them (as in “Showdown” and “Bluebird Is Dead”).
Recording the album was a kind of complicated and drawn-out process since I was doing all of my tracks at home in my bedroom (drums and bass were done by Chris Anzalone and Ed Valauskas, respectively [in their own recording spaces]), and I kept running into technology problems that would frustrate me and slow me up. But eventually I got it all done. A labor of love." -Juliana
VIP Bundle
1 x Translucent Red LP
1 x Brown LP
1 x Powder Blue LP
1 x Black 7-Inch
1 x Red Opaque 7-Inch
1 x Blue Cassette
1 x Signed CD
1 x Special Bundle Box for Safe Transit
1 x Early Shipment
LP Pressing Information:
Translucent Red (500 units)
Brown (500 units)
Powder Blue (500 units)
Metallic Gold (500 units) *400 of these will be available from record shops
Test Pressings (10 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Cassette Run Information:
White Cassette Shell (50 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Blue Cassette Shell (50 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Red Cassette Shell (50 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Test Cassettes (3 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Label-Exclusive 7-Inch Pressing Information:
Virgin Black (500 units)
Red Opaque (500 units)
Test Pressings (10 units) *SOLD-OUT*
Vinyl & cassettes ordered from our website include a digital download card
Signed copies will be signed on front cover
Tests will be signed directly on the test labels
Player/Production Credits:
Produced by Juliana Hatfield
Mixed by Pat DiCenso
Guitars, vocals, keyboards, and percussion played and recorded by Juliana
Bass guitar played and recorded by Ed Valauskas
Drums played by Chris Anzalone* and recorded by Chris and Ed
Drums on "Sweet Is The Night" were done by Jed Davis and extra drums in parts of “Don’t Bring Me Down” were played by Juliana and recorded by James Bridges
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar on “Sweet Is The Night” were originally recorded by Andy Chase
Mastered by Sean Glonek at SRG studios
12" Lacquers cut by Clint Holley
7" Lacquers cut by Greg Reierson
All records pressed at Gotta Groove Records
Cassettes manufactured at National Audio Company
Design & illustration by Nicole Anguish / Daykamp Creative
All songs written by Jeff Lynne
Published by EMI Blackwood Music Inc., EMI April Music Inc.