Julian Lennon

On The Secret Value of Daydreaming, the follow-up to his successful debut, Julian Lennon emphasizes his mainstream pop leanings by adding a tighter, more polished production which brings out the best in his songs. That is, it does when the songwriting is up to par. Lennon had some difficulty producing a consistent set of songs for his second album, with only a handful of tracks – including the hit "Stick Around" – standing out amidst the slick, immaculately produced material.

Despite its moments of inspired songcraft, Julian Lennon's fourth album, Help Yourself, didn't find an audience in 1991. Shortly after its release, Lennon parted ways with Atlantic and entered a period of seclusion. By the time he returned to recording in 1998, the Beatles had already undergone one of their periodic "hip" phases, thanks to the hook-crazy Brit-pop crew. In many ways, bands like Oasis and Blur gave Lennon the go-ahead to return to the Beatlesque songcraft of his debut, Valotte, and that's exactly what he does on Photograph Smile, his first album in seven years. Much of the record is devoted to piano ballads similar to his big hit, "Valotte," with a couple of guitar pop numbers thrown in for good measure. There's not much range on the album, but all the music is well crafted and melodic – the kind of music that would receive greater praise if it weren't made by the son of a Beatle.

Everything Changes is Julian Lennon's first album in 13 years – a long wait by any measure and one that seems even longer given that there's not a great stylistic difference between this 2011 album and its 1998 predecessor, Photograph Smile. Lennon is still mining the later years of the Beatles for inspiration, specifically the stately psychedelic marches that both his father and McCartney sang in equal measure. Julian doesn't sound strictly like either on Everything Changes; if anything, he sounds like he's following the path of Noel Gallagher, with Everything Changes mirroring High Flying Birds in its classy veneer and overreliance on lumbering midtempo melodies. Lennon does have a way with melody, so these go down easily enough, but there's not much distinction between the songs here, nor is there one with a melody powerful enough to pull you into the rest of the record.

ulian Lennon didn’t plan to make another album after his 2011 LP, Everything Changes, but as time went on, something shifted. The artist found himself revisiting songs he’d written and recorded 30 years ago, and decided to update the production, to make the tracks more relevant in today’s world. The creative process sparked new music as well. These songs, drawn from the past three decades, have evolved into Julian’s seventh studio album, Jude. The album’s title is a reference to the Beatles’ iconic song ‘Hey Jude,’ written by Paul McCartney, to cheer up a five-year-old Julian following his parents’ separation. The album cover, a photograph of the musician’s younger self accompanied by McCartney’s handwritten title, to the arrangement of the song, illustrates how Julian has come to terms with his past as he looks forward to the future. “…we are all still dealing with some of the same time old questions, from 30 plus years ago, to present day. Making Jude was truly a journey through my life and through all the questions I’ve had—not only for the world, but for myself. It’s very much like looking in a mirror all these years later.”

Julian Lennon released his debut, Valotte, in 1984, not even a full four years after his father John's assassination. The wounds were still fresh and there were millions of listeners ready to embrace the son of a Beatle, particularly when he sounded remarkably like his father on the stately piano-led ballad "Valotte," the first single from the album. Its elegant evocation of late-period Beatles – deliberate but not self-conscious – invited some carping criticisms that Julian was riding on his father's coattails when the reality is this: any pop singer/songwriter of Julian's generation was bound to be influenced by the Beatles. At his best on Valotte – particularly the title track, but also the caramelized psychedelic chorus of "Well I Don't Know," the tightly wound "Say You're Wrong," and the spare, simple closer "Let Me Be" – Julian demonstrated a keen ear for Beatlesque pop songwriting, drawing equally from Lennon and McCartney.

Singer-songwriter Julian Lennon, son of the legendary John Lennon, releases his new single and EP Lucky Ones, ahead of his upcoming full-length Jude. The EP contains previously released singles "Every Little Moment," Freedom," "Breathe," and "Save Me", alongside the title track. "Lucky Ones" captures Lennon's ability to inspire hope and unity with an anthemic hook that reminds us that we are the "Lucky Ones," as his passion for climate action comes through with lyrics calling for a revolution.