It has been seven years since her first acclaimed solo effort Modern Fables was released – an album that earned her a Taite Music Prize nomination and a Silver Scroll finalist spot for the single A New Dialogue, heralding her transition from iconic rock chick (as the front woman for Fur Patrol), to nuanced storytelling chanteuse. It has not been a quiet time between albums for Deans, who has immersed herself in various musical projects while slowly creating a new raft of songs.
Inspired by world events, friends, and family, We Light Fire is an album that examines both what it means to be human, and our spectrum of strength and vulnerability.
Says Julia: “We Light Fire is about being human, and the things that we have in common – the desires and emotions that connect us even when we think we’re divided or different or alone. It carries a sense of hope and optimism; the idea that there’s a better world, a better way out there for us if we would just look up & see each other.”
While writing the songs was a very solo pursuit, the recording of them was less so with Deans working alongside her partner and co-producer David Wernham, “pulling the musical story together”. And though Deans plays many of the instruments on the record herself, she also roped in an impressive list of friends to sprinkle their abilities across the tracks too: Nick Gaffaney (Cairo Knife Fight), Steve Bremner (The Adults), Richie Pickard (Nadia Reid), Mareea Patterson (Veruca Salt), Anna Coddington, Annie Crummer, Tama Waipara, Sean Donnelly (aka SJD), Tom Broome, Louis Baker and Anika Moa.
