Lost Paradise

I don't remember when or how I first discovered Juliette Valduriez. That's the beauty of Youtube--wandering aimlessly click by click, video to video, until you stumble across something that catches your interest enough to cause you to hit replay. When I think of how I described the first time Charlotte sees Rhys with the guitar, I suppose it's the same way I felt about Juliette. Envy.

There were two videos that left a deep enough impression on me that I converted the videos to MP3 so I could listen to them on my iPod on my way to work. One was her cover of Sia's "Breathe Me," with an aching, soulful guitar solo that made the tiny hairs on my skin rise on end. The other was her original composition, an instrumental piece titled "Lost Paradise." Both of these made their way into my EP writing playlist and were significant inspiration for key scenes.

When I discovered Juliette, at that point she hadn't posted any new videos on her account in a while. I assumed she was done, but to my surprise, she came back last winter as Juliette Jade with a new album titled Terranium, which I ended up purchasing and downloading from bandcamp. Overall, I was fond of the atmosphere and style of her music, but while I have my favorite tracks on the album, those haven't yet gripped me the same way "Lost Paradise" or "Breathe Me" have.

Then, today she released "Lost Paradise" --- a full song, expanded from the solo she originally uploaded on Youtube years ago that I have probably listened to hundreds of times.

The beginning of the song is akin to her style on Terranium--subdued and melancholy, complementing her ethereal-ghostly vocal delivery. About three and a half minutes in, the guitar solo I have heard so many times suddenly enters like a thunderous cry. It is familiar and yet foreign all at once. It is like seeing a lost lover for the first time in decades, and you can trace that blueprint of the person you once knew but the stranger before you is older, matured, and full-fledged. An evolutionary incarnate that has survived to live a second life after the era of you.