jules - “steering wheel”

Photo by Ahsan Taqveem

Toronto-based singer-songwriter jules is here with her stripped-back and ambient morsel of sound: “steering wheel.”

This short and sweet slice of folksy pleasure begins with a softly strummed acoustic guitar, accompanied by the delicious and ghostly howls from a lap steel. The vibe is instantly serene and introspective and locks in the listener as soon as the play button has been pressed.

jules has layered her lovely voice throughout the entirety of the track. And we say this quite often, but the utilization of additional vocal layers is often the determining factor in whether or not we feature a song. This one would be great without them, but the sheer amount of dreaminess they add pushes “steering wheel” over the edge.

Ear candy is provided by what we have determined to be exactly one million additional layers of ethereal guitar. Seriously, there is so much depth to the soundscape that it creates a tunnel between wherever you are in the world to jules’ voice vibrating the diaphragm of the microphone.

In just over two minutes, “steering wheel” takes listeners on a journey through their emotions. And though the track is very sparse in its arrangement, you will still find something new to love with every listen.

-HD