Dreamy Singer-Songwriter Josephine Shares “Machine”
Chicago indie songwriter Josephine Luhman finds strength through vulnerability in her songwriting and voice with his dreamy songwriting outlet Josephine. After sharing her emotionally resonant and warm debut EP Leaning this February and touring a few times since then — including with The Spine Stealers and Mike Kota — she’s ending 2024 with one last song, “Machine.”
Shared by Under The Radar yesterday, the magazine wrote she’s “a gifted singer/songwriter, who can weave together delicate instrumentation, spacious atmospherics, and moving vocal performances to craft music that feels quietly alluring yet surprisingly urgent.” They continued, writing the song is “thoughtfully arranged and subtly infectious, all unfurling while her confessional lyrics put her insecurities on full display.”
Continuing to look deeply inward, the single’s production by Alex Burns (Angel Olsen, Big Thief, Whitney) with her rhythm section sound reminiscent of bands like TOPS. But despite sounding carefree on the surface, the upcoming single meditates on the insecurity that surfaces from self-comparison.
The Chicago Tribune profiled Josephine earlier this year, who picked up on her emotional openness. They wrote, “Luhman has tried to focus on pushing past the apprehension that comes with vulnerability. It is that same vulnerability that listeners can relate to, understand, and ultimately appreciate. Rather than avoid those feelings, she is beginning to trust them.”
The FADER recommended Leaning this year along with KEXP, who summed up her music well when writing, “Luhman delivers warm, lush, heart-wrenching folk pop tunes with strong vocals, intimate lyricism and captivating arrangements that contain both sparse, intimate moments and big, swirling walls of sound.”