Sea of Bees makes songs for the here and now

Local Sea of Bees fans have been through some tough times. Julie Ann Baenziger’s NPR- and BBC-approved project went into full-on hibernation mode shortly after the release of Orangefarben in 2012.

Feeling worn down, Baenziger says she needed time for personal growth, for learning how to enjoy making music again. Writing seemed like an unbeatable challenge.

“I couldn’t sing. I couldn’t think of any stories. I couldn’t make-believe,” she says. “Didn’t Willy Wonka say, ’In pure imagination, there you will be free’? I couldn’t imagine anything.”

That was incredibly frustrating, for obvious reasons. Sea of Bees’ critically-acclaimed debut Songs for the Ravens was born out of a carefree and spontaneous and highly imaginative time in Baenziger’s life. She was in her early 20s, had just moved out of her parents’ place in Roseville and everything seemed possible. Orangefarben was a straightforward breakup album. To rekindle her relationship with that childlike creative freedom, Baenziger collected more life experiences and kept good people around her. The result is Build a Boat to the Sun, released in June via 3 Loop Music in England.

“The main thing was not over-thinking it,” she says. “This album, I think, was kinda like a dock. I could just jump off it and, who knows?” Build a Boat to the Sun sounds like the logical follow-up to Songs for the Raven—it’s filled with whimsy, sweetness, fun and just the right amount of ache. Flourishes of organ and xylophone make way for quieter moments with Baenziger’s magnetic, vulnerable voice. Songs tell stories, real or imagined.

“It’s kind of endless what I’m writing about, if it’s about people in my life, people I made up or people I want to meet,” she says.

Baenziger spent a few weeks this summer completing two separate residencies in New York City, but the shows paled in comparison to spending time with former Sacto artists like Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) and Robby Moncrieff (The Advantage), or Kyle Field (Little Wings). Prior to that, her two-month tour in the United Kingdom would have been nothing without seeing all her buddies from Heavenly Records, which signed her immediately after Songs for the Ravens.

And that’s why recording Build a Boat to the Sun—at John Baccigaluppi’s Dock studio in Sacramento and his Panoramic House perched over Stinson Beach—felt like such medicine. It was her first album featuring so many pals, including her manager Baccigaluppi, tour mate Amber Padgett, Geoffrey CK (Sunmonks), Jason Quever (Papercuts) and James Neil (the Golden Cadillacs).

Baenziger laughs while explaining why she always says “Sacto” instead of “Sacramento.” (Essentially, it’s Baccigaluppi’s fault.) She laughs harder while describing her and Padgett’s stubborn insistence on getting around New York by subway—even with 50 pounds of equipment strapped to their backs and stuffed in their armpits. After stowing herself away for the past few years, connecting with friends and other artists is Baenziger’s current jam and musical priority.

At last, good news for Sea of Bees fans: Baenziger probably isn’t entering another three-year retreat. She’s already writing, exploring, trying new things and listening to foreign sounds.

“When I look back on the first album, there were no limits,” Baenziger says. “I don’t want to have limits. If you feel limited, you’ll never grow.”