Just Janie hits her stride with stirring new folk ballad 'Cherry'

8 Aug 2025 — 2 min read

There’s something quietly magnetic about Just Janie. Her last project, Muse and Musician, clocked over a million streams without shouting for attention. Now, the South Island songwriter follows it up with Cherry, a stark and stirring standalone single ahead of her debut album Mythology of the Girls, arriving in 2026.

Where Muse and Musician wandered gently through personal reflections and sun-drenched nostalgia, Cherry steps into darker territory. Inspired by David Sheff’s memoir Beautiful Boy, the track examines the fragility of a father-son relationship under the weight of addiction. “You’re not the only one, who feels what you’ve become” she sings, her voice both delicate and determined.

Recorded in a lounge studio in Ōtautahi, the song leans into the textures of classic folk and alt-country. Joni-esque vocals float above a lilting mandolin line, weaving a sound that lands somewhere between Blue and Drive. It’s sparse, intimate, and built to linger.

The accompanying video, filmed in Central Otago by director Tim Shaw and stage crew Sian Jones, plays with childhood imagery. A single continuous shot unfolds like a homespun theatre piece gone awry, capturing both innocence and unease. “We wanted it to feel like putting on a childhood play for your parents and letting that unravel into something more sinister,” Janie says. “We filmed it all in one take with three set changes. It was a challenge, but we had a lot of fun.”

It’s the last single before her debut full-length, but Cherry doesn’t feel like a placeholder. It stands alone with confidence, as part confession, part myth, and fully rooted in the emotional clarity that’s quickly becoming her signature.