APR 15
GLENNA JANE - "JUNO" | REVIEW
BY LUNA CARDOSO
Some songs don't just tell a story, they feel like a memory. Glenna Jane's Juno, the lead single from her debut EP Kid, is precisely that: a dreamy, heartbreaking ode to queer longing, the fine line between platonic and romantic love, and the bittersweet what-ifs of youth. It's a song that resonates with the experiences of many, capturing the universal emotions of love and longing.
Glenna Jane describes the scene in great detail from the opening line, "You're humming "Hannah Hunt" / Walking down Fremont Street aimlessly." The song plays like a montage of teenage summers: headphones shared on a bus ride home, knees touching in quiet desperation, late-night hotel stays, and rewinding Cruel Intentions to relive a single, electrifying moment. It's a journey that immerses you in the rush of first love and the uncertainty of whether it's real or just a fantasy, keeping you captivated until the very end.
Juno's sound is reminiscent of early 2000s indie pop, with record scratches, warm synths, and shimmering guitars that feel like sunlight through car windows. Her vocals are delicate but urgent, capturing the emotional push-and-pull of the lyrics: "I'm a beginner / I'll confuse a moment for forever." It's both a confession and a plea, a feeling that many queer listeners will understand—the urge to cross that unsaid line but the fear of losing everything if you do.
The chorus is an aching repetition of "Oh Juno / I want your bite marks on my neck / I wanna kiss you again and again and again and again." The tension is almost unbearable, but the refrain remains the same: we're just friends. It's a sentence that weighs every unspoken word, every minute of almost.
As the song builds, so does the possibility for something more. "If we play pretend / We can be more than friends," Glenna Jane sings, her voice rising with hope or desperation. By the end, the line has transformed into a dreamlike, layered echo of more than just friends—a resolution or a hope left unfulfilled.
Glenna Jane captures something unique in Juno: a song that expresses longing and makes you feel it. It's the soundtrack of every missed chance, every love story that never entirely was but never honestly stopped being. And anyone who has been there will tell you that it is both devastating and beautiful.
