{"product_id":"perfect-version","title":"Perfect Version","description":"When Julia Shapiro flew home from a cancelled\rChastity Belt tour in April 2018, everything in her life felt out of control.\rDealing with health issues, freshly out of a relationship, and in the middle of\ran existential crisis, she realized halfway through a tour supporting her\rband’s third album \u003ci\u003eI Used to Spend So Much Time Alone\u003c\/i\u003e that she was\rgoing through too much to continue. “I was really struggling; I was really\rdepressed. I felt like I couldn’t sing or be a person,” Shapiro recalls. “At\rthat point I couldn’t even imagine playing a show again, I was so over it.”\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eReturning home to a newly empty Seattle\rone-bedroom apartment, Shapiro had wanted for a long time to learn how to\rrecord and mix her own music, and out of the uncertainty of the future of her music\rcareer and her health, she began to record the songs that would become \u003ci\u003ePerfect\rVersion\u003c\/i\u003e,\rher solo debut for Hardly Art. What she created in the space of ten songs is an\rintimate and beautifully self-aware examination of feeling lost in the life\ryou’ve created for yourself. It’s an album of shimmering guitars and layered\rvocals that feels vast in the emotional depth it conveys and masterful in the\rway each song is intentionally crafted and recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThroughout the record Shapiro tries on\rdifferent ways of living, all thematically centered around the idea of what it\rwould be like to be a perfect version of yourself. “How can someone be so\rblindly confident\/I wanna know that trick,” she wonders on “Natural,” the\ropening track that begins using another person as a mirror and then pans back\rto a bigger picture: what would it take to really love yourself? The album is\rpeppered with ideas of what self-improvement could look like—whether it’s\rlearning a skill and living out in the woods, going to bed at a reasonable\rhour, or even more playful, deeply relatable lines like “I should really delete\rmy Instagram.” \u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eShapiro has a knack for turning simple images\rinto something profound, drawing influence from songwriters like Elliott Smith\rto capture complicated moods. The everyday act of circling the block trying to\rfind a parking spot becomes a metaphor for trying and feeling like you can’t\rquite get anything done. “All my problems feel like paper\/I can finally rip\rthem up,” she sings on the title track, describing a moment of lightness in\rhanging out with friends who can find humor in your failure “at least I have my\rfriends to laugh at what I’ve done.”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eOver the course of a tumultuous year of trying\rto find stability amidst depression and surgery, Shapiro ultimately\rrediscovered the parts of music that she loved through the process. Her\rperfectionist qualities create an album that shines in tiny lyrical moments and\rmeticulous guitar parts. “When the rest of my life felt out of control, I felt\rlike this was my chance to be in control of everything,” says Shapiro. She\rplays all the instruments (save for a mouth trumpet solo by Darren Hanlon and\rguest violin by Annie Truscott) and after recording and mixing the first batch\rof four songs at the Vault studio with Ian LeSage decided to record the final\rsix tracks alone in her apartment, adding drums in the studio later and\rlearning to mix them with the help of her friend David Hrivnak. \u003ci\u003ePerfect\rVersion \u003c\/i\u003eis a fully realized vision from a gifted songwriter finding a more\rintimate voice. “So what comes next?” she questions on the album closer “Empty\rCup” which explores the quiet satisfaction of being alone with yourself and\rcreating a blank slate. “A lasting sense of self,” she concludes.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e-- Robin Edwards\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Julia Shapiro","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":54460862366034,"sku":"egy1788117392991","price":13.8,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":54460862398802,"sku":"ahr1788117392992","price":9.48,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":54460862431570,"sku":"dqj1788117392993","price":7.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":54460862464338,"sku":"mpk1788117392994","price":7.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1085\/6821\/5890\/files\/perfect-version_1.jpg?v=1788117398","url":"https:\/\/www.littlecopper.shop\/products\/perfect-version","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}