Sarah Julia asks their listeners questions about the people they love and the people they have left behind in their new single “Mount Fuji.”
Released on Feb. 28, “Mount Fuji” is the second single off Amsterdam-based band Sarah Julia’s debut EP “How Do We Go Back To Being Normal?” Set to release on April 10, the EP was created during a time of shared grief.
When discussing the meaning of their tracks, Julia Nauta and Sarah Nauta said that the EP “is about becoming independent. Dealing with unexpected changes and realizing that you can draw much more from yourself to move forward, instead of wishing for the other person to change.”
They went on to say that they felt “How Do We Go Back To Being Normal?” also embodied “nostalgia for a time when everything seemed simple on the surface,” as well as working through what it means to “redefine the relationship between us and our parents.”
“Mount Fuji,” which is listed as track number three on the currently unreleased record, is based on the Japanese tale of Princess Kaguya.
“The song is about losing someone and wondering if that person will come back to you. It’s about wallowing in the feeling of not knowing and longing for someone’s return,” said a member of the bandmember speaking on behalf of the group.
Born out of a stream-of-consciousness music writing session, the band said that “Julia was playing the guitar and mumbling words; the first line of the song was born out of her mumbles. Very soon Sarah remembered the story she read about Princess Kaguya, and from there, the story told itself.”
A stunning example of harmonious musicality and narrative lyricism, “Mount Fuji” is a twinkling ballad, warm and comforting. Glowing with the aura of something that vaguely resembles the colour of one’s childhood teddy bear, Sarah Julia’s newest single wonders what it means to let go of someone you love, always waiting to see if they will come back home.
Opening with the rhythmic strum of muted guitar strings, “Mount Fuji” sways into the track’s mellow and unchanging sound. Mingling with the dulcet thrum of the stand-up bass, the plucky acoustic guitar line presented in “Mount Fuji” gives the track a round, full tone.
While the musicality of the song is rather simple, the intertwining vocals of both singers truly fill out the sonic landscape of the track. A deep and harmonious alto, the voices of Sarah and Julia could not be any more perfect for a track such as “Mount Fuji.”
With the opening lyrics “Got lost in the woods / Cutting down questions / I don’t know the way you took / I just keep guessing,” an underlying fear of abandonment sets the stage for the rest of the track as the singers search for the person they have lost. The chorus, which sings “When you get / Where you’ve gone / Wonder will you come back to me,” highlights the hope that this person will return to them, not wanting to be alone.
Both the musical and lyrical choices made by Sarah and Julia throughout “Mount Fuji” are stunning, leaving the listener to ask themselves questions about those they love and those they have left behind.
