Music built on a closeness you can’t fake. Their intimate indie folk grows out of a shared childhood and family changes that break you apart and put you back together differently. The love for Bon Iver, Ben Howard or Cat Stevens can be heard in the sensitivity and the use of silence, but their writing also carries the openness we know from Phoebe Bridgers or Joni Mitchell. These songs aren’t about imitation – they’re about what they themselves have lived through. Some of them took years to form and continued to evolve on stage. Instead of raw anger, what remains today is a calm, melodic melancholy.
Sarah Julia are sisters from Amsterdam, and their second EP expands that initial fragility into a fuller sound and a more confident voice. Critics speak of strong harmonies and lyrics that don’t skim the surface. Their concerts aren’t built on effects or poses, but on moments when the music slips under your skin and stays there a little longer than you expected. Their fans form an almost mystical community and call themselves “the witches”. After their show in DolnĂ VĂtkovice, that circle might just grow a little bigger.