Drop the needle on Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia and the very first notes you hear are her voice. A clear, and unadorned declaration of stepping out on her own. Within seconds, she sings her agency into being, fingers meet the piano keys, striking just the sparest of chords.

As the hi-hat kicks in, Julia sweetly recites a litany of ways that she has been told she’s too much or not enough, wrapped in halcyon production that has echoes of Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick. Album opener, and debut single “My Life” packs a punch in a warm embrace. A belted-out proclamation of liberation - doubters, misogynists, and the industry be damned. Not only is she not too much, but she has always been enough.This thesis statement of a song was the key that unlocked a creative door that New York City-born multi- instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and Sunflower Bean’s bassist and singer, Julia Cumming, had been waiting for since her teens.