Like his half-brother, Sean, Julian Lennon has managed to develop an indelible musical career, despite the weighty pressure and skepticism that comes with upholding such a historic musical lineage. And like his brother, Julian was born with a voice very much akin to their father, former Beatle John Lennon. It is a voice that can flutter between a low-tremulous range, an uncomplicated whisper, and a meaty yelp, almost seamlessly.

Now, in 2009, Noble Rot is reissuing three of Julian Lennon’s original releases on Atlantic Records that have since gone out of print: The Secret Value of Daydreaming, Mr. Jordan, and Help Yourself. On the first of these, 1986’s The Secret Value of Daydreaming, Julian delves into a stream of unbridled confession. With Phil Ramone at the record’s helm, Lennon presents the listener with a foray of perfectly refined melodies. These intricately crafted songs thump with a righteous exuberance, like the album’s second track, “Stick Around”, which utilizes a buff funk groove, and an assertive Julian, debating whether he should “stay” when “nothing is clear” in matters of his own heart.

On the tuneful “Want Your Body”, Lennon wrestles with both physical and mental appropriations—he “want(s) your body” and “want(s) your mind”, despite how “unkind” people are. This helpless desire is further echoed on the pensive “You Don’t Have To Tell Me”, where Julian mutters, “You don’t have to tell me / You don’t have to cry / You don’t have to tell me / What you’re feeling inside”.

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Pop Matters, 2009