Boy

Styles: art rock, dark blues, poetry, neofolk

Experimental blues music led by the exquisite, expressive voice of Carla Bozulich. These are songs to live in, explore, and obsess over. While often unfamiliar and disorienting, a strong emotional core runs through the whole album. Definitely one of the most thrillingly mysterious releases so far this year. Highly recommended. FCC: 6
Favorites: 1, 2, 4, 8, 10

Others: Swans, Jenny Hval, Fiona Apple, EMA, Leonard Cohen, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Liars "They Were Wrong So We Drowned", Cult of Youth

1. (3:11) *** Dark blues with a phenomenal vocal performance. Jazzy breakdown. Superb drumming throughout.
2. (3:21) ** Pulsing, whirring, electronic influenced intro. Builds into a steady dirge anchored by heavy, ritualistic drums. Poetic, spoken word feel to lyrics and delivery.
3. (4:06) Neofolk feel with ominous string textures. Devastatingly beautiful.
4. (3:44) *** Bare, tom-heavy percussion. Deep male backing vox. Gains momentum, driven forward by Bozulich's incantatory voice.
5. (4:59) Whirring sample collage intro. Lyrics about leaving behind a life of killing. Gorgeous guitar playing.
6. (4:57) FCC "fuck". Shuffling drums and noisy angst-ridden background instrumentation.
7. (4:57) More melodic than most of the other songs on the album. Jazz influenced drums. Midway through synth textures emerge over a sparse vocal-led section.
8. (3:57) *** Definitely most accessible song on the album but no less powerful for it. Great refrain of "ba da da ba da da da da". One of the best tracks of the year so far.
9. (4:38) Slower. Country influenced. Beautiful harmonized vocals. A little less interesting instrumentally, but emotionally interesting lyrically.
10. (4:29) *** Lone guitar and then some alien background textures. Nearing on ambient. Light ride-cymbal hits come in. Bozulich's immediately distinctive vocals cut through right at the end. Awesome, unexpected closer.