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ON THE RISE
Massachusetts based singer/songwriter, Juliera, prides herself on being woman who will go out of her way for people even through times of adversity. The Nigerian born artist has released her newest single called “Hero”, which is a pop/dance song with powerful vocals highlighting her message of empowerment while going above and beyond for someone.
“I have naturally always been the type of person who likes to go the extra mile for people,” Juliera said, pointing out that this is a focal point of her song.
When it comes to songwriting, Juliera said in many cases she doesn’t even start with an idea. Sometimes the beat gives her a vibe to lay out rhymes and see what comes next. In the case of “Hero”, it was originally started in 2017 and she was in a playful mindset at the time. She said she would rhyme and put together a tune someone could dance to, but something was just missing at the time. For years she still had the lyrics to “Hero” stuck in her head, and she knew something needed to be done.
“So, I did ‘Hero’ and I guess it wasn’t just me, because people around me in the studio that heard it were like ‘hey this is a great song,’” Juliera said and added, “This was something stuck in my head for so many years and now I get to put it out.”
While the song revolves mostly around love, it is also about doing something out of good will and good intention. Some of the lyrics include: “My heart, my hands, my everything is held out for you. When the shadows take the light, and fears start to rise, in the still of the night, I'll be by your side.” Juliera’s lyrics flow seamlessly with the beats by Indonesian producer Hansen Karta.
“From its opening bars, the track’s pop tones combined with a compelling dance rhythm make it a must-add to every playlist,” Juliera’s biography states about “Hero.”
Juliera has a three-year-old son named Romeo who enjoys the tune, and she said the music video coming out that accompanies the song, “Hero” will be very kid-friendly and fun. It incorporates superheroes, which Romeo loves, and will include Juliera donning a superhero outfit herself.
Juliera lived in Nigeria until she went to college. After studying in Europe she eventually landed in the U.S. for her graduate program at Northeastern University. She grew up loving music, listening from morning to night in her youth. Juliera wrote her first song at the age of 16, and had pages of lyrics that she wrote but didn’t do anything with. She credits her aunt for finding them and telling her how amazing they were. Juliera didn’t believe her, thinking she was being nice as a family member, but while in college she decided to go for it.
Juliera sold her first song for just $25. Over time she became more confident and successful, but that all got put to a halt with a painful marriage and divorce where her husband disapproved of her choice to playing music among other aspects of life. After a difficult divorce, she went back to what she loved: music.
“The emotional effect of it was really bad,” she said. “So I said, you know what, what is the thing I really love doing? Let me go back into it.”
Juliera did just that by contacting a local music studio and laying her heart out in a track that got instant praise from the studio as one of the best recorded there. This song was “Let it Ache”, which was about the tribulations of heartbreak and getting through it. She describes her music as a “celebration of resilience, hope and self-empowerment,” according to her biography. It says her story is one of “triumph over adversity, of a woman who refused to be silenced.” Juliera wants people to start fighting for themselves, and also work to be a good person.
“It’s only when you start fighting for yourself that things start to actually start getting better,” she said.
She added, “I am going to do what makes me happy and put my energy into something I love doing. I want this thing that I started to go bigger than I imagine.”
"Hero" is available on all major digital streaming platforms and can be followed here:
ON THE RISE
As they prepare to unveil their fourth album, ‘Joy In Short Moments’, The Snuts have spoken with NME about how stepping away from touring gave them the chance to reflect on some of life’s biggest challenges and bring greater attention to mental health.
Their first album since 2024’s upbeat ‘Millenials’ follows a rare break from the road over the past year. During that time, frontman Jack Cochrane also experienced a major change in his personal life as he welcomed his first child.
Along with getting used to fatherhood, the singer began thinking about deeper questions that the demanding touring lifestyle had previously left little room to consider. His reflections on growing up, dealing with loss and understanding what success really means gradually found their way into his writing, eventually shaping the direction of the band's more personal new album.
Fans were first introduced to the album earlier this year through ‘Summer Rain’, an emotional track exploring postnatal depression and the “fear of the future”. They later returned during the summer with the more hopeful ‘Defibrillator’, encouraging listeners to move beyond negative thoughts about themselves and find comfort in connecting with other people.
Speaking to NME about the creative shift behind their fourth record, Cochrane explained: “By taking a conscious break from life on the road and making records, my world opened up to let so much more of the real world in,” he said. “For the first time I was living then writing, not writing while trying to live.”
He also described how the change helped the band approach recording differently, adding: “It unlocked a new process that the band had been crying out for,” he continued. “The studio sessions were set up to allow us to be friends and not colleagues. Distraction and external pressures were completely eradicated from the recording environment, allowing us to trust our gut and have the conversations we needed to as humans.”
In the remainder of the interview, Cochrane also discusses his new role as an ambassador for mental health charity CALM and talks about starting a podcast designed to encourage more artists to speak honestly about their personal struggles.
NME: Hi Jack, congratulations on the new album. You’ve said that this record was about addressing the topics that you previously tried to hide from. What kinds of questions did you find yourself confronting?
Jack Cochrane: “I would say mainly, ‘What do I need to be happy?’… Eeek! It’s a big one I know, but having set out with the title ‘Joy In Short Moments’, I was able to spend my time searching for them and allow joy to do what joy does: compound and relieve the stresses of the modern world.”
That’s not the easiest question to find yourself confronting. Did you manage to find any answers along the way?
“Ultimately yes. With the completion of this record I was able to find a much happier healthier version of myself I had been so long yearning for.”
The album sees you deal with new themes, but musically we also see you return to the guitar-led sound from your early days. Did revisiting those roots make you notice how much has changed since you were starting out?
“For sure. We were able to remove any snobbery from the process. We’re no longer new kids on the block and with that came a new found ability to be really honest about the kind of noises we wanted to make and the type of artists that had originally inspired us.”
This album goes hand in hand with you becoming an ambassador for CALM and launching your own podcast dedicated to checking in with fellow artists. Why was it important for you to get involved in the conversation about mental health?
“I think conversations and role models are absolutely essential for young people. I wanted to have more and do my best to be one. Every song on this record was born out of unfiltered, open and honest conversation.”
From talking to people on your podcast, including Louis Tomlinson, and using your platform to open up this dialogue, is there anything interesting that you’ve noticed?
“I think that more often than not, young men are finding it difficult to combat the struggles they are facing in this modern world. To me it feels like there are less and less spaces and opportunities to have meaningful, healing conversations…”
Having had those conversations yourself and explored them on the album, it must be somewhat daunting to now put it out into the world. Is there something that you hope people take from it?
“I’d like people to feel less alone after hearing the record and the themes intertwined with it. I think music is more than just heartbreak and I hoped in the writing of this record I would be able to highlight some more universally relevant topics.”
You have your headline tour coming up next month. What can we expect from the shows?
“Big smiles and big sound all round! It will be the most self assured Snuts tour to date.”
‘Life In Short Moments’ is out now Happy Artist Records in partnership with Virgin Music Group. Their UK and Ireland tour kicks off next month with an opening night in Dundee. Visit here for tickets and check out a list of tour dates below.
NOVEMBER 2026
19 – Dundee, Livehouse
20 – Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
21 – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
23 – Dunfermline, Alhambra Theatre
24 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
26 – Sheffield, Octagon Centre
27 – Nottingham, Rock City
29 – Norwich, UEA
30 – Hull, City Hall
DECEMBER 2026
1 – Bristol, Prospect Hall
3 – Leeds, O2 Academy
4 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
8 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
9 – Portsmouth, Guildhall
10 – London, O2 Academy Brixton
JANUARY 2027
26 – Belfast, Limelight
27 – Galway, Róisín Dubh
28 – Dublin, Academy
