Meet Julia Campbell today on IMC. The LA-based singer-songwriter, originally from Pennsylvania, returns after two and a half years of silence with a deeply moving new single, "Ohio Song".
Her upcoming EP "Sick of Staying" is on the way, and this first taste blends indie-folk songwriting with a subtle pop edge. "Ohio Song" sticks with you for hours after listening thanks to its instantly catchy melody. It's soft, fresh, and bright, even though the theme leans more towards melancholy.
Her vocal performance is absolutely stunning, intimate and close, as if she were singing right into your ear. You find yourself holding on to the story she tells, a love story that doesn’t quite end the way you expected. An upbeat breakup song? Yes, and why not?
Production-wise, there are countless little details waiting to be discovered with a good pair of headphones. It’s a real piece of craftsmanship, no doubt about it.
And when every box is ticked, that’s when we feel lucky to share a gem like this one with you. It’s already made itself comfortable in our playlists, and chances are it’ll do the same in yours. Julia Campbell is definitely a name to remember, and we’re pretty sure you’ll be seeing more of her on IMC soon. We can’t wait for the EP to arrive.
I'm super excited to share with you my first release in 2.5yrs. This feels like a new era for my music!
Julia Campbell grew up in Pennsylvania and now calls Los Angeles home. Music has always been her way of making sense of the world. She started young, singing along to Avril Lavigne from the backseat, listening to her dad’s Monkees tapes with the windows down, or sitting with her mom while they picked apart Joni Mitchell’s lyrics together.
At 14, she picked up a guitar for the first time and taught herself to play. Ten years later, she’s still writing songs, now tucked inside a home studio she built out of a walk-in closet. Over time, she’s also been learning how to produce her own music, step by step. Julia’s sound has been shaped by artists like Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, Lizzy McAlpine, Clairo, and Adrienne Lenker. But her songs tell her own stories, often filled with quiet details and honest questions.
Before settling in LA, she spent six months teaching English in China, then drove across the country alone to start a new chapter. Since arriving, she’s spent many nights at concerts, often solo, soaking in the city’s music scene and slowly finding her place in it. She’s now started performing her own songs at local showcases. Her writing feels personal, sometimes raw, and often unexpectedly catchy. The kind of songs that stay with you and say just enough to feel like they were written for you too.
Whenever I’m driving down the highway
and see an Ohio license plate
I think about how you were the best part of what i always thought was
probably the most boring state
Do you remember our friends’ wedding?
when you had finally cut your hair
after I’d told you to for months and you said that you never would
you looked so good, it wasn’t fair
you couldn’t look at me
and I couldn’t look away
Damn we were a train wreck waiting to happen
Everybody saw us go off the tracks and
You still couldn’t say it
guess it’s easier just staying
But we were like a car crash in slow motion
I could feel the airbags breaking us open
there’s no use in praying
when there’s nothing worth saving
and at the end, you just said nothing
Maybe I should’ve walked away
Instead I got way too drunk & called your bluff
wish I never gave a fuck
Say you miss me
Say you hate me
Say something
But you wouldn’t speak to me
Cause you knew it wouldn’t change a thing
Damn we were a train wreck waiting to happen
Everybody saw us go off the tracks and
You still couldn’t say it
guess it’s easier just staying
But we were like a car crash in slow motion
I could feel the airbags breaking us open
there’s no use in praying
when there’s nothing worth saving
And I never even told you half the shit that I thought
I let so much slide and took it, all for what?
you left me with nothing in the name of god
just like I thought
Cause damn we were a train wreck waiting to happen
Everybody saw us go off the tracks and
You still couldn’t say it
Guess it’s easier just staying
Cause we were like a car crash in slow motion
I could feel the airbags breaking us open
there’s no use in praying
when there’s nothing worth saving
And i got sick of staying
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