Photo credit left to right: Eleanor Petry, Jimmy Bazan

 

Julia Shapiro of Chastity Belt, Childbirth and Who Is She? shares a moody dance remix of her “Death (XIII)” by friend + former co-worker Jenn Champion. The original track is taken from her album Zorked, released in October 2021 via Suicide Squeeze Records.

Julia also announces a string of full-band headline dates this October, followed by a run supporting Kurt Vile.

About the remix, Julia shares: “I met Jenn back when I first moved to Seattle in 2012, and we were both working at the Redwood together. We had a weekly shift together where she was bartending, and I was in the kitchen. I’ve been a big fan of her music ever since meeting her, and I love how she turned this heavy song into a moody dance hit… totally genius!”

Jenn Champion shares: “I’ve always loved Julia’s voice and as soon as I heard her vocal line on this sludgey-metal-drone song, I knew I wanted to make it a vibey club song. I started crafting a slow sexy beat that would fit with her style. It was important to me to keep the moodiness of the song but make it dance-y. I hope all the kids smoking outside the goth club rush back in to dance when they hear it play.”

 

LISTEN TO “DEATH (XIII) – JENN CHAMPION REMIX”

 

 

PRAISE FOR JULIA SHAPIRO 

“Shapiro’s record is intensely personal, but she viscerally taps into an idea plaguing the public consciousness right now: that we aren’t alright, and maybe never will be again.” – PASTE

“…retains the same dreary, immersive shoegaze sound from her first record; it’s a mesmerizing…” – Stereogum

“The Chastity Belt vocalist balances ’90s alt-rock sounds and modern malaise on her second solo LP.” – FLOOD Magazine

“Zorked seamlessly jumps from acoustic-driven songs to shoegaze soundscapes, and is a must-listen for fans seeking catharsis through beautifully composed and produced songs.” – post-trash

 

 

Zorked (adj.) – what happens when you end up thunderbaked, as in extremely stoned–or in any situation where you feel not sober. And Julia Shapiro, of Chastity Belt and Childbirth—much like everyone on this earth with a pulse—was zorked on more than one occasion in 2020. In March, she packed up her things and traded Seattle’s late-winter gloom for the perennial sunshine and seemingly endless opportunity of Los Angeles only to be forced into near-total isolation. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, she began working on her second solo album, Zorked. At the peak of her uncertainty and discomfort, she jumped into the deep end in search of something new—and found power in heavy sounds. Though Julia Shapiro found herself in a near hermit-like existence, writing and recording almost all of the album’s instruments herself, she maintains a sense of humor about all of it. At the very least, “It’s funny to force people to have to say Zorked out loud. Any other title sounded pretentious.”