Owls, Omens and Oracles

Owls, Omens and Oracles
Studio album by Valerie June
Released	April 11, 2025 (2025-04-11)
Genre	Pop [1]
Length	47:17
Label	Concord
Producer	M. Ward
Valerie June chronology
The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers (2021) Owls, Omens and Oracles (2025)
Singles from Owls, Omens and Oracles
"Joy, Joy!" Released: February 4, 2025

Owls, Omens and Oracles is the sixth studio album by American singer Valerie June. ^[2] It was released on April 11, 2025, by Concord Records. ^[1]

Background

The album was produced by M. Ward and consists of fourteen songs, including the lead single, "Joy, Joy!", ^[3] which was released on February 4, 2025, alongside a music video directed by Taylor Washington. ^[4] The album incorporates elements of folk, blues, gospel, and soul, and features collaborators such as the Blind Boys of Alabama and Norah Jones. ^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	87/100 [5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Clash	9/10 [6]
The Guardian	[7]
Mojo	[8]
Paste	8.0/10 [9]
PopMatters	8/10 [10]
Uncut	8/10 [11]

In Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean out of 100, the album got a 87, which indicates "universal acclaim", from 7 critic reviews. ^[5]

Timothy Monger of AllMusic described Owls, Omens and Oracles as "a textured, grungy-sounding album, full of melody, soul, and inspired songwriting." ^[1] The Guardian rated the album four out of five stars and stated "The Tennessee singer-songwriter's joyful new album pushes back against the bleakness of doomscrolling." ^[7] Paste Magazine assigned it a rating of 8.0 out of ten, calling the album "a necessary reminder missing from swaths of contemporary music that happiness is just as potent a tool for beating back the darkness as anger." ^[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Valerie Hockett; "Superpower" written with DJ Cavem Moetavation.

Owls, Omens and Oracles track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Joy, Joy!"	3:01
2.	"All I Really Wanna Do"	2:43
3.	"Endless Tree"	3:53
4.	"Inside Me"	2:22
5.	"Trust the Path"	4:33
6.	"Love Me Any Ole Way"	3:15
7.	"Changed" (featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama)	2:05
8.	"Superpower"	2:20
9.	"Sweet Things Just for You"	2:37
10.	"I Am in Love"	3:36
11.	"Calling My Spirit"	2:02
12.	"My Life Is a Country Song"	2:39
13.	"Missin' You (Yeh Yeh)"	3:26
14.	"Love and Let Go"	4:25
Total length:		47:17

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. ^[12]

Musicians

• Valerie June – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1–7, 10, 12, 14), clapping (6), banjo (12)
• M. Ward – electric guitar (tracks 1–10, 12, 13), acoustic guitar (2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13); glockenspiel, piano (2); background vocals (6, 13), clapping (6), marimba (14)
• Kaveh Rastegar – bass guitar (tracks 1–10, 12, 14)
• Stephen Hodges – drums (tracks 1–10, 12, 14), percussion (1–4, 7, 12)
• Nate Walcott – string arrangement (tracks 1–3, 7, 8, 12), horn arrangement (1, 5–8, 14), keyboards (1), Hammond organ (2–4, 7, 8, 12), piano (2, 5–7, 10, 14), trumpet (5–8, 14), clapping (6)
• Vanessa Freebairn-Smith – cello (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
• Luanne Homzy – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
• Paul Cartwright – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
• Zach Delanger – viola, violin (tracks 1–3, 7, 12)
• Sylvain Carton – baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
• Josh Johnson – tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
• Vikram Devasthali – trombone (tracks 1, 5–7, 14)
• The Blind Boys of Alabama – background vocals (track 7)
• DJ Cavem Moetavation – programming (track 8)
• Norah Jones – background vocals (track 9)

Technical

• M. Ward – production
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Steve Fallone – mastering
• Kennie Takahashi – mixing (tracks 1–12, 14)
• Pierre de Reeder – mixing (track 13), engineering (all tracks)
• Case Newcomb – engineering (track 7)
• Jamie Landry – engineering (track 9)
• Dani Bennett Spragg – editing

References

1. Monger, Timothy. "Owls, Omens, And Oracles – Valerie June". AllMusic . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
2. Pearis, Bill (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album Owls, Omens, And Oracles & Shares "Joy, Joy!" Video". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
3. Murray, Robin (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album Owls, Omens, And Oracles". Clash Magazine . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
4. Pickard, Joshua (February 4, 2025). "Valerie June Announces New Album, Shares Video for Lead Single "Joy, Joy!"". Beats Per Minute . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
5. "Metacritic" . Retrieved July 13, 2025.
6. Niwa, Rae (April 9, 2025). "Valerie June – Owls, Omens And Oracles". Clash . Retrieved October 12, 2025.
7. Simpson, Dave (April 11, 2025). "Valerie June: Owls, Omens and Oracles Review – a Soul-Recharging Exercise in Radical Positivity". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
8. The Blind Boys Of Alabama and Norah Jones pops up in Sweet Things Just For You, but no guest can overshadow June's sweet and salty tones. [Jun 2025, p.89]
9. Crump, Andy. "Valerie June Teaches Us New Ways to Resist on Owls, Omens and Oracles". Paste Magazine . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
10. Woronzoff, Elisabeth (June 18, 2025). "Valerie June Shows Radical Joy and Care as Resistance". PopMatters . Retrieved October 12, 2025.
11. Her most gently ambitious and dazzlingly diverse album to date. [Apr 2025, p.32]
12. "Owls, Omens, and Oracles / Valerie June / Credits". Tidal. April 11, 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2025.