Album Review : Josefine Neumann’s ‘My Greatest Fears’

Josefine is a singer-songwriter and alt folk artist who traces profound thoughts, feelings, and encounters with an acoustical cast. She keeps it simple and intimate, singing with a candor that celebrates the folk genre in ways reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Phoebe Bridgers, and Elliot Smith. As you listen to her albums, you’ll realize that her contemplative confessions and slow-brewed storytelling mellows time and compels you to stand still and think. Her latest release is the ‘My Greatest Fears’ album, a collection that holds up a mirror to the listener and sends them on a journey of introspection and self-discovery. With her vocal planes drawing us into sincere spaces, each track is a moment of reflection that is melodically and lyrically meditative. Listen Now! 

Hiding in plain sight within the tracks is a poetic brilliance that explores romanticism and magical realism in a unique way. There’s none of the lyrical flamboyance or mystique that you expect. It manifests more in the narrative tone, naked sentiments, youthful earnestness, and a thoughtful innocence. In tracks like ‘Soon Enough’, ‘Imperfection’, ‘Invisible’, and ‘Icarus’, she explores melancholy within the pensive weave of hope and consolation. While tracks like Bigger Man’ and ‘The Notion’ reveal a strong sense of artistic and emotional clarity. 

In ‘Sea-Glass Eyes’, ‘Amnesia’, and ‘Little Bird’, the artist especially compounds romanticism. These tracks are as ambivalent and complex as life itself. Intricate threads of emotion connect melancholy with epiphany, positivity with poetry, refreshing imagery with romance. The tenderness in ‘Little Bird’ and ‘Amnesia’ are especially heartwarming. The way her voice carries into falsettos just as the guitar string thin out is so euphonic and pleasing. 

‘Not Broken, Only Bent’ puts a beautiful spin on a sense of self. It celebrates individuality, and the uniqueness of each human experience. The artist dilates on the fractures of self-doubt and self-judgment to expose the beautiful landscapes that are contained in every person. 

Each track reinforces a singularity, with moments of pausing transience. It draws you into your mind, roaming through memories, rummaging through feelings, to remind you what you’re made of. Listen Now! 

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The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘My Greatest Fears’ by Josefine Neumann here -