If you’ve ever wondered if it might be fun to dance in a graveyard, San Francisco’s gloomy june is here to prove it with their new single “Back from the Dead,” available now on all music platforms. This track, the first from their upcoming 2025 LP, blends bittersweet guitar lines, anthemic synths, and groovy drum tones, creating a sound that’s both haunting and energetic (think PVRIS meets The Hush Sound). Inspired by the Bay Area’s annual “June Gloom,” the queer emo pop band continues to explore vulnerability through their signature contrast of upbeat production and deep, introspective lyrics. We caught up with the band to discuss their sound, their process and their new music:
Q: In your opinion, what are the essential qualities that make a “good songwriter”?
Have a clear vision, be a flexible collaborator, be focused on serving the song and not your ego, write for yourself but respect the listener.
If you write lyrics, here's a line from Mary Oliver:
“Writers must take care of the sensibility - there is nourishment in books, other art.. In mirth.. In hands-on labor.. In the green world. A mind that is lively and inquiring, compassionate, curious, angry, full of music, full of feeling, is a mind full of possible poetry.”
Q: What is the basis for writing attention-grabbing music in this day and age?
I like to make the first line surprising. I also think repeating musical phrases and lyrics is helpful. I also think repeating musical phrases and lyrics is helpful. I also think repetition is helpful if you change it up in an unexpected way at the end.
Q: Can you pinpoint some specific songs and songwriters that changed the way you write music?
I'm a real sponge when it comes to influences. If I like a song I'll take something from the lyrical style and learn from it. The confessional style of lyric writing with someone like Phoebe Bridgers really inspires me. I was lucky enough to see her perform at Outside Lands in 2022 and seeing people absolutely bawling to her lyrics blew me away. Just imagining thousands of people having their own unique experience with those lyrics and feeling those moments at the same time while hearing it live- gives me chills. Another, though different, example would be Remi Wolf. She puts together words that exude fun just by their context in the song. I recommend her song "Guerrilla" which has the star line "Bubblegum, bubble butt, bubblegum, she the crazy one going apeshit dumb." Without being conflicted about it, I want to both write truths that make people weep, and irreverent fun stuff that makes them dance.
Q: Do you find it hard to be inspired by your peers? Can you name any new artists you find inspiring?
A few new artists around the SF Bay Area who inspire me and Ultra Q, chokecherry, Mild Universe, and Maggie Gently. A few new artists not around here that inspire me at Towa Bird, speedrun, and zzzahara.
Q: For your new album, what inspired the lyrical content, album title, and overall vibe?
I've been trying to explore my psyche a bit more in my lyrics; basically, I'll think about something and think "Why do I think about it that way?" and try to write from there. There's a song about feeling compulsion to have a hot take and share it on the internet, there's a song about being afraid to commit in a relationship, there's a song asking why I always dwell on the past, there's a song about spending so much time making "content" that you stop experiencing your own life. Really fun stuff.
Q: Do you find that you ruminate over writing songs and hold on to them for a long time before including them on a record? Or do you prefer to write them, release them, and be done with them? Do you ever revisit old material to do a re-write or once it’s done it’s done?
If a song is done, it's done, in my opinion, but if I feel like a song isn't quite working, I'll shelve it and maybe cannibalize the lyrics or melodies for a future song. Ideally, a song would get written, "road-tested" by playing it in front of a few crowds, then recorded and released. Ideally, this would take six month, but that has never happened to me haha.
Q: Were there any lessons you learned in the writing and recording process for your current release that you will take with you into your next project?
I learned I should always be writing. I go through phases where I write a ton, and it's a good idea to get in the habit of writing. In the recording process, I learned I should figure out the notes I'm trying to sing before we hit record, because sometimes I get used to singing a note and it isn't until we're in the quiet of a vocal booth that I realize that note doesn't actually fit. Pretty basic stuff, but a lesson nonetheless.