Julia Bhatt Releases New Single 'Karma' Ahead of Debut Album 'it is what it is'

"It's about the feeling of being left behind or being just a background character and then finding a way to live life like you are the main character," says genre-jumping Julia Bhatt about her new fresh and carefree indie-pop single "Karma" (out today).

"Karma" is the newest single off the Miami-based indie singer/songwriter's debut album, it is what it is - releasing independently on July 20, and though it is one of the oldest songs off the album, it's one of the songs she's the proudest of on this collection. "'Karma' is one of the few songs that I absolutely love. I don't usually think that for all my songs, but every part of it is completely solid in my eyes," she adds.

Written when she was 16, "Karma" was recorded at the same time as the original version of "Miami" (which is included on the album). "I wrote it pretty early on, so it's really nice to see that it's held up in my eyes. It has a lot of meaning to me. I don't want to say much more than that, but I recorded it with some friends from high school, and for the resources we had, it was pretty good. Shoutout to Jacob, Ben, Ryan, and Leo."

"Karma" follows the jangly indie pop "Cotton Candy" (about feeling "safe being on the edge and comfortable in foreign places... kind of like a rollercoaster") and the airy folk-pop single "On My Shoulder" (which depicts the concept of having an imaginary angel on one shoulder and an imaginary devil on the other, two halves constantly battling about what could have been).

Similar to her hometown of Miami, her music is a huge melting pot of people and cultures, "I'm not really even sure what to call my sound, but each song [on the album] has its own set of influences. Some you'll be able to hear clearly and some you won't. It ranges from the Magnetic Fields to Marina and the Diamonds to Washed Out. Lots of stuff for lots of people" she told PhotoBook Magazine. Adding that some influences come from her parents, but some came from "friends growing up, local radio stations, etc."

An ear-opening concoction that defies categorization, Julia's music is such a fresh showcase of her gen-Z genre-fluid talent (she just turned 20 in January). From September 2019 to early March 2020, Julia was in a whirlwind of life-changes: she released her first three singles ("Tall," "Marco" and "I'm Cool"), turned eighteen and graduated high school.

Just as she was really getting started with the announcement of her first ever tour however, the pandemic brought everything to a standstill. While the world was in quarantine, not only did she release the singles "Miami" and "Bird Girl" as well as her debut EP 2 steps back, but she also, in a creative burst of energy, being states away from her mentor and producer Elliot Jacobson (Ingrid Michaelson, Elle King, Vérité) in New York City, she started to write songs on software, Ableton Live, rather than on the guitar.

The first music to come from this new approach to making music were her 2021 singles "1:30" and "Hair Salon Vibes" both of which will be included on the debut album alongside an earlier recording of "Miami."

Lavishing sparking acclaim for her previous singles, the media has garnished Julia with heaps of praise over the past two and a half years, signaling her as a buzzworthy artist to keep an eye on. Earmilk has declared, "Bhatt is quickly finding herself in the conversation of alt-pop's surging artists, a genre that continues to dominate playlists." Culture Collide adds, "[She's] on her way to making a name for herself on the charts!"

Julia Bhatt's debut album it is what it is will be released independently on July 20, 2022. "Karma" is out today, May 25, 2022.

Listen to the new single here:

To post a comment, you must register and login.