NEW JUNIPERS SINGLE FOR 2026 - WHEN SHE TURNS..

We have released our first single from our 2026 album The Solid and the Hollow. Buy here: When She Turns (Single 2026) | The Junipers

Our new album is also now available for pre orders: The Solid and the Hollow | The Junipers

When She Turns came about after a long drive home — turning the organ on and just holding a long distorted note and gradually drenching it in more distortion and tremolo. We'd had the chorus line for a few years and it fit perfectly dropping into that sustained organ note.
We had a bit of fun making a little video for it too, which you can find on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@TheJunipersUK

The Junipers - When She Turns (Lyrics)

lyrics

When She Turrns (Lyrics)

She planted a seed but didn't know
That it would make a garden grow
She waters the flowers, now I find
That they are growing in my mind

When she turns it on
And she turns it on

I drop to the floor and forget about time
It feels like springtime in my mind
The world is in colour from black and white
My body is drowning in sunlight

When she turns it on
And she turns it on

When she turns it on
And she turns it on

2024 JUNIPERS INTERVIEW with MICHAEL BJORN in SHINDIG MAGAZINE..

Fittingly for a late 60s inspired record, the new JUNIPERS album is an unplanned love child. Joe Wiltshire and Robyn Gibson tell Michael Björn how one thing led to another.

To the delight of sunny psychedelic pop lovers, after eight years The Junipers are back with Imaginary Friends. It started when Robyn was recording the Portable Radio’s sophomore album. “We managed to persuade Joe to play bass,” says Robyn. “So that got me and Joe kind of doing bits over in Leicester.” 

Their first idea was to re-record the Junipers’ debut album Cut Your Key since they did not have ownership of the original. However, when a reissue deal was struck with the original label, attention instead turned to new material. “We had about four new songs,” says Joe who is the songwriter of the pair. “I showed them to Portable Radio, thinking perhaps we could do it with them.”

But accidental momentum took over and the songs just kept on coming. “The sessions were just so easy,” says Robyn. “We’d pop over to the Juniper studio for two or three hours, once or twice a week, and come out with maybe one and a half songs recorded.”

Soon the two had taped almost an album’s worth - but decided to also include ‘My Imaginary Friend’ — the last group recording made in late 2017 just before their guitarist Peter Gough got ill and the band activity petered out. “I wanted to do our own ‘Martha My Dear’. There’s an Emitt Rhodes track, ‘She's Such A Beauty’, and I wanted something like that,” explains Joe. “But we've not got a dog, so we made one up, like a Rutles thing!” 

With some parts recorded by the full lineup, the music feels like a direct continuation from previous album, Red Bouquet Fair. “It's good that it doesn't stick out,” says Robyn. “Nobody seems to have noticed the change in line-up.”

And judging from the sheer quality on display, great tunes seem to have been piling up over the inactive years, all in their signature warm and friendly style. “It's like a summer haze that's shimmering in and out,” says Robyn. ”Its nice to make something that makes you smile,” adds Joe. “Some songs are probably a bit saccharine, but as you build them, you try and steer it away from that a bit.” But while the production indeed layers psychedelic sounds and playful overdubs here and there, such effects are used sparingly in order avoid sugar coating.

“We just did it for fun,” concludes Robyn. “But we ended up with the fourth Junipers album!”

Joe and Robyn. Shed music.

JUNIPERS FEATURE in NME ARTICLE from 2006..

 

25.AUG.2006

Former Alfie frontman Lee Gorton has launched a campaign to form a 'psychedelic supergroup' for a special project.

The singer has asked The Flaming Lips, The Zutons, Elbow, Snow Patrol and Athlete to lay down vocals for a compilation album which will be written and recorded be a host of up and coming bands.

He told NME: "I've talked with all these heads and they've all said, 'Lee you fucking nutter, sounds great'. So I've planted the seed and asked them and now it's my job to find a load of great songs that will suit them which will be written by up and coming artists and bands like Jim Noir, The Monks Kitchen, John Stammers, The Draytons and The Junipers because they're all dying to write the songs. Then we'll just try and get the big boys in to sing them'.

'I wanna have proper folk tunes on there, psychedelic tunes, northern soul and straight up Beatles-esque, Wings-esque pop classics."

The project entitled 'Red Thread' after Lee's Manchester roots has been set up to try try and bring a host of unsigned bands to the fore through major artists.

He explained: "We're just trying to get loads of bands working together, writing with each other, dropping all the stand-offish playground mentality attitude that bands have with each other sometimes when they think they've got to scrap it out. A lot of em have got good hearts and are doing it for the right reason and that's why I don't mind going (Guy) Garvey and all the others and saying 'C'mon don't you remember what it was like to be unsigned and what it was like trying to get a break when you started out?."

Although the project is still in it's tentative stages, the singer is currently on the lookout for a studio where tracks can be laid down for the record.

He went on: "All I need now is some crazy old last of the English eccentrics, some old dude who's got a decrepit old mansion anywhere, even if it's in Bulgaria, The Isle Of Skye, Wales, anywhere that'll have us for two or three weeks a month. I'm aiming to take a few producer mates, a few laptops and mics and just cane it. So if anyone has got a fucking mad mansion gis a shout."

JUNIPERS FEATURED IN FRESH ON THE NET FAVORITES...

'Mary In the Rain' was featured as a weeks favorite on the Fresh On the Net blog as voted for by readers. Nice little write up by Poppy Bristow too: 

THE JUNIPERS – Mary In The Rain

THE JUNIPERS – Mary In The Rain

We bring our roundup to a close with something a little lighter – musically, that is. Psychedelic Leicester pop pickers The Junipers bring us 'Mary In The Rain', a melodious, multi-layered pocket symphony topped with Beach Boys harmonies.

The result sounds deliciously like if Kevin Ayers had put a bit more effort into producing his records. But don’t be fooled by such sonic sunshine. 'Mary In The Rain' is based on the true story of a circus elephant, Mary, who was hanged using a crane after she killed the man who was riding her. Plenty of pop music has put a colourful wrapper on tragedy, but rarely has the tragedy been so peculiar as it is here – nor the wrapper quite so dazzling.

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THE JUNIPERS on PURE POP RADIO with ALAN HABER...

 

Red Bouquet Fair.

Summer's all the sweeter with this charming collection from the Leicester, UK band in the mix. Recalling the sweet sunshine pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s in such lovely songs as 'Summer Queen' and 'Like a Merry Go Round'. Red Bouquet Fair is no less than the audio equivalent of smiling at your good fortune on a warm day in the park while sipping cool lemonade. 

The vocals are enchanting and the instrumentation is perfectly played. By Alan Haber.

Read the full article Here!

IMAGINARY FRIENDS ALBUM REVIEW on MONOLITH COCKTAIL..

 

The Junipers…now then, if I’m not mistaken my band The Bordellos once appeared on a compilation album alongside these lovely lads. The Future Is Bright The Future Is Cloudy or vice versa. Anyway, a fine compilation from many years ago. But I digress once again.

What we have here is the fourth album from the group, and what a cracking little pop gem it is. An album of pure pop, the kind Macca and Gilbert O Sullivan used to make in the early seventies, with a touch of pure 60s pop harmony magic that The Zombies would no doubt write home to their mothers about, and playful psych undertones that yearns for the day when London used to swing  and Russ Sainty used to loiter outside the Bag O Nails with that bunch of dandies The First Impression. Imaginary Friends is a wonderful album filled with quite wonderful songs. And is really made for your record collection.

Read the full review and more on Monolith Cocktail Blog

Buy The Junipers Imaginary Friends here!

5 STAR RATING and IMAGINARY FRIENDS ALBUM REVIEW in SHINDIG! MAGAZINE..

 

From Shindig Magazine October 2024

The Junipers are connoisseurs of classic harmony pop, channeling a myriad of familiar and obscure influences. The fourth album maybe their most fully realised yet. Regular readers will be familiar with singer Robyn Gibson and his Bob Of the Pops sideline covers project, or guitarist Pete Goughs Bite it Deep blog, that deep mines forgotten pop gems from the 60's and 70's. All of this explains what to do expect from a Junipers album.

With a nod to John Carter productions here and a wink to early High Llamas there, The Junipers create a sound that radiates with a warm hazy glow. Songs like 'Monkey On My Back' and 'Annie Almond' are stuffed with tiny little pieces of nostalgic inspiration. The lovely Autumnal folk of 'Red Song' recalls Elliott Smith at his most wistful. 

If you like melancholic harmony-pop with Toytown psych flourishes, The Junipers are sweet medicine for the soul. 

REVIEW and FEATURE in SHINDIG MAGAZINE...

As most readers of Shindig know, there are several current bands who have attempted to bring that classic 60s soft pop sound into the new millennium.. and failed. There's always something not quite right, whether it's the timbre of the vocals, the production values, the melodic structures, or a combination thereof. Well, The Junipers, have managed to perfect their wonderfully shimmering, Curt Boettcher-esque folk-pop sound without even consciously trying to emulate it. Says Juniper Joe Wiltshire, "it's the era that we all listen to most, so it just falls naturally together. Even when we're recording & adding effects, it's what we know so it's what we do. We've never stopped and said, 'that doesn't sound 60s or 70s enough'. We just play it & it sounds like it does." 

The Junipers in 2012

The band formed in Leicester around 2004, and recorded demos at home. "We started passing the recordings around town & got some good feedback so we started rehearsing as a band to take the songs out on the road", says Wiltshire. Several of these demos ultimately were re-recorded for their first full length album, Cut Your Key, which was released in 2008 and garnered several fine reviews. Shindig! Was so enamored of these recordings that we included "Gordie Can't Swim" on our hand-picked compilation, It's a Happening Volume One. 

Their wonderful new album, Paint the Ground, retains a similar ethos as Cut Your Key, while taking it to the next level. "During the recording of the new stuff we got well into Space Opera and a lot of the moodier 70s sounds like America & Danny Kirwan", explains Wiltshire, and tunes like Dandelion Man & In My Reverie certainly reflect this. The Junipers have decided to eschew the usual label route & release Paint the Ground themselves - the album is available HERE!

THE JUNIPERS APPEAR IN BOOK "THE KNIGHTS OF FUZZ" by TIMOTHY GASSEN...

The Knights of Fuzz - The New Garage & Psychedelic Music Explosion by Timothy Gessen.

We are featured in a fantastic new 500 page reference book for neo psychedelic bands by Timothy Gessen called "The Knights of Fuzz". It is the definitive history of psychedelic and garage music since 1980. BUY THE BOOK HERE!

PORTABLE RADIO "COUNTING TO THREE" feat JUNIPERS. ALBUM REVIEW...

 

Shindig! Magazine Review October 2023

As the first Autumn chill approaches, this second album from Manchester pop aggregation Portable Radio is a warm audio blanket to wrap yourself up in.

Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney are obvious reference points for these charming songs that range from the sugar rush of 'Song That You Know' to the subtler flavours of 'Past Downtown'.

While the most rewarding performances happen on lilting ballads like 'Not Today' and 'Muggy', the band may also have found a universal anthem in 'Where There is Love'.

Enhanced throughout by elaborate but not overly busy arrangements that include strings, brass and layered harmonies, this is near-perfect Pop.

BUY THE ALBUM HERE!

2 JUNIPERS JOIN PORTABLE RADIO on NEW ALBUM...

Junipers Robyn and Joe have joined Manchester outfit Portable Radio and play drums and bass respectively on the new album 'Counting to Three'. The album is out now. Buy it Here!

The new album follows Portable Radios eponymous self titled LP which garnered wonderful reviews, with Shindig magazine praising the “uplifting stellar pop songs” and Piccadilly Records saying “Superb!” and “wonderfully listenable.”
‘Counting To Three’ continues apace, adding more magic and every bit a love letter to ‘70s pop and rock.
There’s sharp pop and baroque and jangling guitars, and their trademark harmonies and gear-changes, but now, you’ll also find Philly orchestrations and Dexy’s brass too! Portable Radio took their time and produced the songs themselves to make for a real gem of an album.
You'll find 13 tracks of West Coast cool, melancholy ballads, bubblegum bangers, and echoes of Wings, 10cc, Lemon Twigs, Of Montreal, Weyes Blood, Nick Lowe, Carole King and more.

BUY THE ALBUM HERE!

!.

RED BOUQUET FAIR MAKES No 8 in SHINDIG MAGAZINE BEST OF 2016...

 Our album Red Bouquet Fair has made no 8 in Shindig! magazines best 10 albums of 2016. We're huge fans of Shindig and this means the absolute World to us. Thank you Shindig!

THE JUNIPERS ON TOUR with BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE 2025...

We were honored to be asked by The Brian Jones Town Massacre to support them playing live on their UK tour in 2025. We were contacted by Enrique 'Ricky' Maymi who put us in touch with Alan Mcgee of  Creation Records fame to organise the dates and specs. We were briefly on cloud nine when we were penciled in and confirmed to support TBJM on the UK leg of their tour in Feb 2025, but unfortunately due to some logistical and personal issues we can no longer play. We are very sorry about that because it was announced and advertised in some places. UK band Project Gemini will now be supporting TBJM on those dates and the shows will be fantastic.

CUT YOUR KEY REVIEW on AMERICANA UK...

The Junipers "Cut Your Key" (San Remo Records, 2008

Leicester studio prodigies summon some cloud-dappled sunshine. Although now bolstered by a full band for a forthcoming live onslaught, Leicester’s The Junipers are a duo of home-studio geniuses with a tellingly impressive record collection and if there’s any justice, a rather bright future.

Included within the myriad of sounds they cram onto this concisely crafted album there are definite nods to pastoral folk (‘Fly the Yellow Flag’), country-edged pop (Already Home’), summery psychedelia, and knowingly retro (mainly 60s and Beatle-esque) pop aesthetics (‘Song That Fades Away’, ‘Gordie Can’t Swim’). Featuring a cornucopia of instruments throughout their many brief, sharp, pop journeys, the Junipers have a sound that is naturally textured, warm and mostly quite captivating.

The intriguing and genuinely sad opening song ‘Gordie Can’t Swim’ is a truly superb early highlight, sketching out the troubled life and untimely death of a friend, held up by a fine and simple melody which naturally weaves into lilting ghosts of harmony and a suitably uncertain, evocative end. Complimented by strings, echoes and a beautiful sense of space, it’s so completely perfect in its execution, the ‘repeat’ button on your CD player may well be needed numerous times at this point. Vocally and melodically, the Elliot Smith folk-inflections give proceedings a familiar air, and while its true that sometimes, as with much folk-inspired musings, the ‘twee-o-meter’ can reach an all too high scoring (‘Sheena’ being the prime offender), by cramming 15 tracks into a brief 36 minutes nothing on here truly outstays its welcome.‘Cut Your Key’ably displays two fervently fertile and inspired imaginations with a world of wonderful sound at their disposal. 

Date review added: Thursday, September 11, 2008

Reviewer: Ian Fildes

Reviewers Rating: 7/10

Buy Cut Your Key Here!!

Visit American UK

JUNIPERS BAND REVIEW ON EVERY RECORD TELLS A STORY BLOG...

 Leicester has had a pretty good run of it of late. It had previously been a source of fun for Londoners being asked for directions by tourists trying to pronounce the famous London square of that name (“Can you tell me the way to Ly-sess-ter square?” we would be asked whilst stifling a smirk). 

Aside from that, it was known for hosting the Walkers Crisps factory and being the birthplace of Thomas Cook holidays and the jug-eared England striker Gary Lineker. However, Britain’s tenth biggest city has had something of a renaissance. Not only is it now rather grandly the final resting place of Richard III, it also hosts football’s Premier League Champions, albeit they have just sacked their manager, which just goes to show some people are never happy. 

Lineker himself is rising ever more to National Treasure status, as he provides as much opposition to the Government as he used to do to Brazil on the football field – more, some would say than the actual opposition party via his Twitter account.  

From a musical perspective, until recently the most famous export from Leicester was the man who broke The Beatles’ record breaking string of number one hits by keeping Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane from the No. 1 spot. 

Sounds good until you find out that person was Englebert Humperdinck. 

But more recently Leicester has produced a slightly edgier and indie-fied version of Englebert in the form of Kasabian, a genuine international headliner and producer of indie-bangers. 

And since 2000, another Leicester band has been quietly producing music, and it is this band that deserves your attention today. 

The band is called The Junipers. 

You may not have heard of them: they didn’t appear on The Brits alongside Ed Sheeran or at The Grammys alongside Bruno Mars, but The Junipers will appeal to fans of the quieter moments of Teenage Fanclub, modern day psychedelic rock bands such as Temples (who hail from nearby Kettering) and Tame Impala, and in particular such psychedelic ’60s pop as Love, The Byrds and The Beatles, and the sunshine pop of Sagittarius and The Beach Boys.

The Junipers’ third album in nine years (they aren’t the most prolific it seems), Red Bouquet Fair, came out late last year, and not only is it one of the best albums I have heard in ages, it’s also being released in a very limited run on coloured vinyl by Tunbridge Wells’ finest record label Sugarbush Records (about whom we’ll find out more another time).

Here are a few things we need to know about The Junipers:

• Band members are Robyn Gibson (vocals), Joe Wiltshire (guitar), Pete Gough (guitar), Ash Selden (bass) and Ben Marshall (drums).
• Their debut 2008 album “Cut Your Key” was recorded both at their own studios in Leicester and at Birmingham’s Magic Garden studios, and was a mild success, gaining radio play, favourable reviews and a support slot with the aforementioned Kasabian. 
• Follow up “Paint The Ground” was released in 2012, and improved upon the debut. 
• 2016 album “Red Bouquet Fair”, their third album, is a further leap forward, containing songs that would improve Pet Sounds. 

Yes, it’s that good. 

It is a masterful work of pop precision, an album utterly accomplished. Like Southend’s Asylums’ “Killer Brain Waves”, Red Bouquet Fair is a great example of a terrific record being created with a DIY ethic outside of the mainstream music industry.

What makes this DIY movement different from previous movements is that bands like The Junipers are releasing the most beautiful home-produced albums that sound like they were created in a luxurious studio. There’s real craft in these mini-symphonies, in these perfect folk-pop moments of sunshine. 

As winter draws to a close, perhaps it’s time to bring a bit of sunshine into your life? An instant injection of vitamin D…

Read the Full Article Here!

OLD CUT YOUR KEY ALBUM REVIEW from POWER POPAHOLIC

 

The Junipers "Cut Your Key"

 November 14, 2008  powerpopaholic  Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic, Top Ten of 2008 Candidate

The Junipers are songwriter Joe Wiltshire and vocalist Marc Johnston who, together with a group of friends in Leicester, make upbeat, chiming pitch perfect baroque and psychedelic pop with echoes of early Bee Gees, The Curiosity Shop and The Zombies. If you are looking for big loud electric guitar riffs, they are not here, but everything else is. Especially that McCartney baseline driven song structure. “Gordie Can’t Swim” opens with a Beatles meets Elephant Six collective retro sound, full of hooks that stick and harmonies that float along the melody. This sets the tone for the album, and despite a few slow instrumental breaks – it’s brilliant in every way. “Fly The Yellow Kite” is a shimmering pop confection that resembles a Wondermints composition. “Already Home” uses a Monkees-like country vibe with those impressive basslines and harmonies to great effect here and it’s a awesome pop song. Using a collection of instruments from of sitars, mellatrons, organs, kazoos, piano, strings, fuzz guitar will have fans of sunshine dappled psyche pop doing backflips. “Out of My Pocket” is adds a dash of prog organ to an acoustic guitar melody and, and “Sheena” is a very Wackers-like folk pop gem. Another standout is the Genesis-Klaatu beauty called “Song That Fades Away” with a sweet harpsichord solo in the middle. Other straight pop songs here “Mortimer” and “Sunnydown Avenue” resemble The Hudson Brothers in sound and spirit. The albums quieter moments concentrates on piano and gentle folk guitar similar to Elliot Smith.  If you don’t enjoy the retro-psyche pop genre then you should pass on this, however fans of Andrew Sandoval, The Pillbugs, and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” will gobble this one up. There are so many layers of impressive instrumentation and arrangements here I’m letting this one into the top ten of 2008. Again, no filler on this impressive debut, and I’ve added two tracks to the Lala player on the right for you to hear.

Buy Cut Your Key Here!

Read the Full Review Here!

PAINT THE GROUND ALBUM REVIEW ON THE QUIETUS BLOG...

 On the stroke of British Summer Time, The Junipers dropped the vinyl version of their newest LP Paint The Ground, doling out instant vitamin D after the bleak midwinter. As is often the case with Leicester’s premier pop psyche outfit, they delivered just when it was needed, channelling the music of Curt Boettcher’s Sagittarius, and Macca at his most dreamy. Just like that, the flowers started to bloom.

While rock music is currently obsessing over the cocaine 70s and 80s, flitting between wanting to be Fleetwood Mac (hey Haim!) or Blind Faith (you okay Arctic Monkeys?), a mini psychedelic revival has been going on, unfreezing like a brook in spring.

While bands like Stealing Sheep and Gruff Rhys’ various solo projects get the attention, bands like The Junipers quietly plug away in their burrow, radiating pure sunshine and good vibes. As unfashionable as it is, this band are determined to apply their love of pop music to an uncynical, good vibration, with a whole load of craft and bespoke nursery melodies drifting through multi-layered, hooky 60s pop.

But don’t expect Beatle Boots, wild fuzz guitar or grand concepts.

Album opener ‘Look Into My River’ doesn’t so much herald its arrival, but rather, creeps into view before flourishing into achingly gorgeous low-lit mellotron goodness, making way for the more jangly freakbeat of ‘Dandelion Man’.

Elsewhere, the band go from scrapbook shedpop (think Alfie’s first Twisted Nerve EPs) with ‘Antler Season’, to the bounding fizz of ‘Song To Selkie’. It isn’t all sunshine and lollipops though – cut in the grooves is a woozy, unsettling element. ‘They Lived Up In The Valley’ is a glorious pop-folk song, which flickers with the hue of a Cold War public information film, which made Boards of Canada such a seductive proposition.

From the first album Cut Your Key, through the singles and EPs that led to Paint The Ground, the careful precision of The Junipers, and the unswerving dedication to the feeling of the 60s, rather than a tedious facsimile, has seen the band turn into one of the greatest bands to grace the underground. If you’re a fan of El Goodo, Kevin Ayers, Shack, Emitt Rhodes or Broadcast, you’ll fine tons to love.

The shallowest part of the stream may make the loudest noise, which means the sumptuous quiet groove of The Junipers can be easily missed – and that is the lousy state of indie music in 2014. The self-promoters and loudmouths, the manic pixie dream girls with their guitars and faux-awkwardness, the cosmic disco bullshitters and blokerock boors are all you can hear in the swill of popular rock, but in that moment when everyone has shouted themselves hoarse, a band like The Junipers appears, with their perfect little symphonies, melting the hearts and minds of anyone who stumbles across them.

If you like pop in the pure form, delicate as it is catchy, you need to let The Junipers in.

Buy Paint the Ground Here!

Read the Full Review Here!

SONG REVIEW ON EAR TO THE GROUND BLOG..

Featured Single: Power pop in the vein of the Beatles 

by The Junipers – “You’re My Sugar and Spice”

-Instead of looking at the clock to see the time, you might be looking at the calendar to see what year it is with this great throwback sound from the Junipers. Everything from the chord selection to the delicate harmonies all put me in mind of the Fab Four. The overall sound is easy to enjoy, befitting the early Beatles sound from the era of hits like “I wanna hold your hand.” The guitars have an easy going style and the vocals are quality. This is more than a Beatles tribute, though, it’s original songwriting and deserves recognition for being a delightful new song.

Read the Full Review Here!