Welcome to a New Year and a new-to-me diva! Thanks to Miki Ratsula (a new-to-me diva from last year) lending vocals and cowriting skills to Jules Paymer’s song “The Daughter That My Mother Wanted” (a song of being haunted by others expectations of who they want you to be), I decided to check out Jules’ 2023 EP, Girls Will Be Boys.
The EP plays with gender roles (how could it not, having a song and title “Girls Will Be Boys”) and personal growth. I like that Jules’ lyrics are honest and give a perspective you don’t hear every day. Some of the music is harder than I tend to gravitate towards but sometimes I like rocking out. In my gay opinion, it’s the biting, self-deprecating humor that shines brightest on the EP. I’m amused how Jules is “fucked in the head, that’s what my therapist says” in “Mommy Issues” and on “Lost Cause” they ponder their place in life, “I guess that’s why I never met god, because even he thinks I’m a lost cause.”
“25” is my favorite track and I wish it were around when I were younger. I haven’t related this much to a song in a while. I too grew up assuming I wouldn’t live to see the age I am now, so I didn’t invest effort into my future until later in life. I like the hopeful perspective Jules can give a younger listener and my gay inner teen is pumping her fist along to Jules’ positive message.
