JULIA GREENBERG – “SOMETIMES THE SEA”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
As anticipation builds for the June 11 release of her Born Sentimental EP, NYC songwriter, filmmaker and music activist Julia Greenberg offers “Sometimes The Sea” — a windswept and deeply human meditation on aging, grief, friendship, and the fleeting flashes of grace that keep us moving forward.
Somewhere between the bruised emotional realism of Marianne Faithfull, the emotional openness of Sharon Van Etten, the weathered storytelling of Lucinda Williams, and the poetic introspection of Joni Mitchell, Greenberg has carved out a voice entirely her own — one steeped in downtown New York theatricality, folk melancholy, and unvarnished emotional candor.
There is an understated literary intelligence to the songwriting, where humor, grief, memory, and resignation coexist in delicate balance, rewarding close listening with unexpected emotional depth. “Sometimes The Sea” carries the kind of weathered, candlelit honesty that feels destined to become someone’s lifelong companion — the rare folk song that quietly settles into your bones after a single listen.
Rooted in an unhurried Americana sensibility, the arrangement moves with a loose, open ease, like something carried on warm air rather than driven forward. The accordion work is central throughout — rich, slightly baroque, and deeply expressive — weaving soft, rolling phrases that drift through the track like tidewater, giving the song both its lift and its ache.
The ocean becomes a fleeting kind of refuge from that quiet sense of time slipping out of reach. The song is framed as an intimate exchange between two longtime friends as they reflect on what accumulates with age: the decline of parents, the fading shape of past summers, and the emotional weight that gathers almost without notice. “The twilight of their mothers, those sweet bitter days at the ending of their summers — it’s all just heartbreak, it’s only a matter of degree.”
“I knew two things as I set out to write this song. One, that it would be called Sometimes the Sea, because I was at the beach, and I had that moment you get a glimpse of the ocean on a clear day, and it just shocks the darkness out of you. Two, that it would be a conversation between me and my best friend Maud, and that she would be the narrator. I was perhaps feeling a bit weary of my own voice, and since she’s a brilliant writer, I figured she could tell the story of my blues and endlessly tiresome introspection with some humor and perspective. When I listen to the song, sometimes it feels like she wrote it,” says Julia Greenberg.
“Jeremy Chatzky (bass) and Will Holshouser (Accordion) and I were in a band together in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and we’ve played on and off together in various projects for decades. The recording of Sometimes the Sea, which we did live in the studio, really captures our comfort with feeling our way through a song together. That freaking Accordion Solo before the third verse. It’s as if Will summoned a symphony through those bellows!”
Recorded live at Chrometop Studios, “Sometimes The Sea” captures the raw chemistry of musicians who have spent years refining these songs on stage. With Julia Greenberg on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jeremy Chatzky on upright bass, and Will Holshouser on accordion, the EP was co-produced by Greenberg and Bob Perry of Winter Hours, engineered by Perry, and mastered by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door Recording Studio in Montclair, New Jersey.
Celebrated in underground New York circles, Greenberg previously released the albums “Past Your Eyes” and “Greenland,” both produced by James Mastro of The Bongos fame. Her music has appeared on This American Life, while Ronnie Spector also recorded one of her compositions. Greenberg’s acclaimed documentary “Dory Previn: On My Way to Where” premiered at the SXSW Film & TV Festival in 2024 and is now streaming on PBS. Before directing the film, Greenberg became widely regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Dory Previn’s catalog, performing throughout the country at venues including Joe’s Pub, Mass MoCA, the 92nd Street Y, and appearances on WFMU and WNYC.
Now available for pre-order, the Born Sentimental EP will be released via Magic Door Record Label on June 11.
Credits
Music & lyrics by Julia Greenberg
Jeremy Chatzky – upright bass
Will Holshouser – accordion
Tricia Scotti – backing vocals
Julia Greenberg – acoustic guitar
Bob Perry – electric guitar
Paul Moschella – drums
Stephanie Seymour – percussion
Recorded at Chrometop Studios
Co-produced by Bob Perry and Julia Greenberg
Engineered by Bob Perry
Mastered by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door Recording
Cover artwork by Jamil Azam
Released by Magic Door Record Label
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Artist photos by Yumiko Takagi
While you are here, you can also soak up the sunlight delight of her latest video for the album’s lead track “Leaves”:
Julia Greenberg
[Single]
(Magic Door Record Label)
Release Date: May 16, 2026
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Yumiko Takagi
