Stone Table Records
Release Date: September 16th 2022 (I Dream of You: JOY) / October 6th 2023 (I Dream of You: FRIENDSHIP)
Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre
JJ Heller – I Dream of You: JOY (Amazon mp3/iTunes) / I Dream of You: FRIENDSHIP (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing (I Dream of You: JOY): [] = ORIGINAL ARTIST
- Beautiful Day [U2]
- Do-Re-Mi [THE SOUND OF MUSIC]
- The Bare Necessities [THE JUNGLE BOOK]
- Rainbow Connection [THE MUPPETS]
- Don’t Worry Be Happy / Three Little Birds [BOBBY MCFERRIN / BOB MARLEY]
- Grand Adventure [JJ HELLER]
- Friday, I’m In Love [THE CURE]
- I Can See Clearly Now [JOHNNY NASH]
- A Spoonful of Sugar [MARY POPPINS]
- Wildflowers [TOM PETTY]
- Singin’ In the Rain [GENE KELLY]
- All You Need is Love [THE BEATLES]
- Young At Heart [FRANK SINATRA]
- Ordinary Days [JJ HELLER]
- What a Wonderful World [LOUIS ARMSTRONG]
- Tomorrow [ANNIE]
Track Listing (I Dream of You: FRIENDSHIP): [] = ORIGINAL ARTIST
- Oo-De-Lally [DISNEY’S ROBIN HOOD]
- We’re Gonna Be Friends [NAPOLEON DYNAMITE]
- You’ve Got A Friend In Me [RANDY NEWMAN]
- Lean on Me {BILL WITHERS]
- Count On Me [BRUNO MARS]
- I’ll Stand By You [THE PRETENDERS]
- Thank You For Being A Friend [GOLDEN GIRLS THEME]
- We Can Work It Out [THE BEATLES]
- Life’s A Happy Song (feat. Bart Millard) [THE MUPPET’S MOVIE]
- Calvin & Hobbes [JJ HELLER]
- You’ll Never Walk Alone [GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS]
- You’ve Got A Friend [JAMES TAYLOR]
- With a Little Help From My Friends [THE BEATLES]
JJ Heller has been in and around the music industry for quite some time. Possibly the most unique, musically diverse and poignant female indie artist I’ve come across over the last few years, JJ has unveiled her fair share of poignant albums over the years- her 2015 gem and underrated album The Sound of a Living Heart, a successful Christmas album in Unto Us; as well as her successful 2013 album Loved which coined the radio singles ‘Who You Are’, ‘Redemption’ and the title track, alongside a lullaby album I Dream of You that included her famous track ‘Boat Song’. Now in 2023, JJ Heller is once again releasing something new.
Since Unto Us in 2016, JJ has released a slew of singles to iTunes (now Apple Music), alongside several follow-up albums to her iconic album I Dream of You. I Dream of You Vol. 2 (now retitled I Dream of You: CALM), songs that have made an impact on JJ as a kid and growing up, songs that of yesteryear that still have meaning now. In that album, reviewed by my brother Josh here, we saw songs like ‘Here Comes the Sun’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Edelweiss’, ‘Over the Rainbow’, ‘Moon River’ and ‘Make You Feel My Love’, all covered by JJ in an powerful and acoustic fashion. In 2021, JJ’s release of I Dream of You: LOVE was unveiled to digital platforms. Also an album full of covers, songs like ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ (Bryan Adams), ‘I’m A Believer’ (The Monkees), ‘In Your Eyes’ (Peter Gabriel), ‘Thinking Out Loud (Ed Sheeran), ‘Stand By Me (Ben E. King) and ‘I’m Gonna Be’ (The Proclaimers) are all songs that we may have heard in our lives at one point or another, and are all culminating on this album release from JJ, a reminder that songs indeed transcend the artist originally, as well as time period. Now in 2023, JJ has kept the I Dream of You brand going- releasing a further 3 more volumes- I Dream of You: SLEEP, I Dream of You: JOY and I Dream of You: FRIENDSHIP– here on this ‘review’ of sorts, I will dive (a little) into songs from the latter two releases.
There’s nothing much to say about these two albums, in this ‘review’. Really, there’s nothing much. If you’re a fan of folk music, children’s music, timeless songs in general, and enjoy songs of yesteryear and want to see those things married together, then these two albums are for you. Even if you’re not really much of a fan of yesteryear music, this album can definitely change your mind- I believe it’s that good. Even if we don’t necessarily know all the original artists present here on these two JJ albums, we do know many of the songs, and this shows us the timelessness of these tracks, even being able to transcend the artist itself. Songs like ‘Beautiful Day’ (U2), ‘I’ll Stand By You’ (The Pretenders), ‘Lean on Me’ (Bill Withers), ‘Count On Me’ (Bruno Mars), ‘What a Wonderful World’ (Louis Armstrong), ‘Friday I’m In Love’ (The Cure), ‘All You Need is Love’ (The Beatles), ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ (James Taylor), ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ (Randy Newman) and ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ (Johnny Nash) are just some of the many songs on both JJ albums, songs that we all know in our lives at one point or another. Add in a few JJ originals as well (‘Grand Adventure’, ‘Calvin & Hobbes’, ‘Ordinary Days’), and these two albums are must-have purchases (or at least a stream) if you’re a fan of JJ Heller’s music, a fan of timeless classic songs, or both. Or if you’re a fan of JJ’s mainstream counterparts like Jewel and Sarah McLachlan.
Much of these songs have stood the test of time, and for them to be reimagined again by JJ is enough for hopefully younger listeners to take note and listen to songs that defy the decades and pierce the heart for reasons inexplainable as we see songs impact and influence, years after they were written. With both these albums destined to become go-to albums to listen to for reflective music in a folk-pop fashion, JJ Heller is definitely underrated, and these albums showcase the fact that sometimes, an album full of covers may not necessarily be a bad thing at all. Well done JJ for such a compelling album in I Dream of You: JOY and I Dream of You: FRIENDSHIP, certainly some of my favourite covers albums by any artist in the last few years, ever since Destiny, Timeless, Premiere and Encore from Lucy Thomas. Maybe another I Dream of You next year sometime? Who knows! Till then, these two albums will be on repeat, for the upcoming weeks and possibly months to come!
10 songs to listen to: Beautiful Day, I’ll Stand By You, Lean On Me, Count on Me, You’ll Never Walk Alone, All You Need is Love, What a Wonderful World, I Can See Clearly Now, Friday I’m In Love, Tomorrow
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Jewel, Bebo Norman, Andrew Peterson, Jenny & Tyler, Sara Groves, Ellie Holcomb