B-Side Guys

Isolation often reveals character. AK Patterson’s February 2025 release “Juno” transforms the potential desolation of aloneness into something approaching liberation, delivering what she accurately describes as “a kind of anti-love song” that inverts romantic conventions with quiet defiance.

The London-based multi-instrumentalist—often described by fans as “Buckley with boobs” in reference to Jeff Buckley—brings particular authenticity to this exploration of vulnerability. Having recently recovered from an illness that left her voiceless for eight months, Patterson’s vocal performance carries the weight of someone intimately familiar with absence and recovery. This lived experience translates into vocal delivery that conveys fragility without weakness, restraint without timidity.

Produced by Charlie Andrew (alt-J, David Gilmour), “Juno” creates a sonic environment that honors Patterson’s folk background while establishing distinctive creative identity. The opening guitar melody establishes immediate intimacy, creating space for vocals that command attention through nuance rather than force. While drums and bass are handled by collaborators Jools Owen and Will Sach, Patterson performs all other instrumentation, crafting arrangements that blend traditional folk foundations with contemporary production sensibilities.

What distinguishes “Juno” from countless other post-relationship songs is its symbolic framework. By positioning the moon as representation of outdated romantic ideals, Patterson creates conceptual distance that allows for objective examination rather than mere emotional reaction. This celestial metaphor provides perfect contrast to the song’s grounded circumstances—written after moving into a “grotty little flat” in London and entering a relationship “that wasn’t right for me.” The lunar imagery suggests both illumination and shadow, reflecting the contradictory nature of solitude as both challenge and opportunity.

Patterson’s musical influences for the track reveal another layer of thematic intentionality. Drawing from what she calls “nostalgic breakup songs” with “that late 90’s / early 2000’s feel,” including The Goo Goo Dolls, Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” and Avril Lavigne’s “I Miss You,” she connects personal experience to broader cultural narratives about relationships and independence.

As the third single from her upcoming EP “Jailbird” (following “i don’t know how to die” and “Morticia”), “Juno” further establishes Patterson’s versatility while maintaining thematic consistency. The EP, described as exploring “London’s dark underbelly,” promises to continue her artistic approach of finding “hope in the bleakest corners of human experience.”

“Juno” ultimately succeeds by transforming a pledge of self-love into something more nuanced than mere empowerment anthem. Through Patterson’s distinctive blend of “modern chamber pop fused with the melancholic spirit of 90s Lilith Fair,” the track reminds listeners that learning to be alone requires not just determination but genuine bravery—and perhaps turning away from celestial romanticism toward terrestrial self-sufficiency.