Unpredictable indie-pop form Baltimore's Julien Chang...

JULIEN CHANG
KEY TRACK: Butterflies From Monaco
LABEL: Transgressive
MANAGEMENT: Salty Management
TWITTER: @JulienChangBAL

WHO: Julien Chang is a 19-year-old new musical magpie on the block.

WHAT: You’d have a great time answering this one yourself if you sat down to dig into Chang’s music. He studied classical and jazz, and twins technical sensibilities with bold melodies and waves of psychedelia.

WHERE: Chang is from Baltimore.

A MUSICAL MAGPIE, YOU SAY? That’s right. Listen to Jules, Chang’s debut album, and you’ll explore all kinds of musical knick-knacks, a rusty hunk of Beatles here, some leftover Paul Simon, there, that kind of thing. Adding to the mischief is the record’s title: it sounds like a nickname, but in fact no one ever calls him ‘Jules’.

A TRICKY CUSTOMER... Something like that. But Chang’s music and personality are alluring, primarily because it feels difficult to predict what he’ll do next. In indie, that’s a big plus.

I WOULDN’T MIND SEEING THIS IN THE FLESH... Then we’ve got good news: Chang plays two London gigs this month: Bermondsey Social Club on 28 and Servant’s Jazz Quarters on 29.

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