Valerie June Previews New Album ‘The Moon and Stars’ With Slow-Burning ‘Call Me a Fool’

Four years after her breakout 2017 album The Order of Time, singer-songwriter Valerie June will be releasing her latest studio album The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers on March 12th.

Recorded in Los Angeles and Miami with producer Jack Splash, June’s forthcoming project finds the singer brightening and building on the ethereal roots-music blend she introduced on her most recent studio effort.

“For this album I wanted to see how we could bring some modern elements into that band-in-the-room approach I’ve taken with my records in the past,” the songwriter said in a release.

One of the album’s highlights, released on Friday, is “Call Me a Fool,” a slow-burning R&B ballad featuring backing vocals from the Stax legend, singer-songwriter Carla Thomas.

“No matter how big or how small your dream may be, keep believing, and let the world call you a fool,” June said of the song, whose title also serves as a nod to some of the records from Thomas’ heyday as a Sixties R&B hitmaker (“What a Fool I’ve Been,” “Fools Fall in Love”).

“With this record, it finally became clear why I have this dream of making music. It’s not for earthly reasons of wanting to be awarded or to win anybody’s love — it’s because dreaming keeps me inquisitive and keeps me on that path of learning what I have to share with the world,” June added. “When we allow ourselves to dream like we did when we were kids, it ignites the light that we all have within us and helps us to have a sort of magic about the way we live.”

1. “Stay”
2. “Stay Meditation”
3. “You And I”
4. “Colors”
5. “Stardust Scattering”
6. “African Proverb Read By Carla Thomas”
7. “Call Me A Fool” Featuring Carla Thomas
8. “Fallin”
9. “Smile”
10. “Within You”
11. “Two Roads”
12. “Why The Bright Stars Glow”
13. “Home Inside”
14. “Starlight Ethereal Silence”