Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming Goes Solo

After more than a decade fronting the New York rock trio Sunflower Bean, Julia Cumming is going solo. The singer announced today that her first-ever solo album, Julia, will arrive on April 24. She’s also shared a new single, “My Life,” that shows off all the charismatic presence, vocal strength, and pure rock & roll spirit that’s made her a star.

“This song came after a period of intense pressure, the culmination of writing through the pandemic and the years spent in the rhythm of touring, recording, and trying to find my place within it all,” Cumming said in a press release. “Then something shifted. It was liberation, and I knew immediately it was the beginning of something new.”

“My Life” is a smooth, smoky pop ballad with a Seventies feel and lyrics about holding onto what’s true: “I don’t do this to impress you/I don’t wear this to undress you/I don’t need you to define me/Or approve of what’s inside me.” It’s out now with a music video directed by filmmaker Edgar Wright, who also recently cast Cumming in a small part in his remake of the sci-fi/action flick The Running Man.

Cumming co-founded Sunflower Bean in the 2010s with two other New York teenagers who loved bands like Pink Floyd, T. Rex, and Led Zeppelin. She and her bandmates, guitarist Nick Kivlen and drummer Olive Faber, quickly gained an audience for their energetic live shows and adventurous studio approach. In 2022, the trio told Rolling Stone how they kicked the band into an even higher gear with their third album, Headful of Sugar; they kept that energy going with last year’s Mortal Primetime.

Now, Cumming is taking her shot at something more. She recorded Julia with collaborator Brian Robert Jones (who’s played with Paramore and others) and producer Chris Coady (who’s made indie classics with Beach House, Grizzly Bear, and more). The album also features contributions from top session aces like Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner and Beck sideman Roger Joseph Manning Jr. She’s releasing the album through Partisan Records, an indie label that’s had some very notable successes in recent years with acts like Geese and Blondshell. 

“One of my main goals with this record was for it to sound fun, not morose,” she added in the press release. “It’s the ultimate anti-cool album. It’s a joyous space for the misfits, and in particular, an album for girls like me, the ones in middle school who never fit into a neat little box. I want this record to be a place where those girls can find solace. You don’t have to be who anyone wants you to be to be enough.”

Cumming also announced her first-ever solo shows, with dates in New York, L.A., Paris, and more this spring.

Julia Cumming 2026 solo tour dates

April 28 — New York City @ Public Records
April 30 — Los Angeles @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever 
May 12 — London @ Moth Club
May 13 — Manchester, U.K. @ YES (Basement)
May 18 — Berlin @ Mikropol
May 20 — Paris @ L’Archipe