Looking Forward: Carla Bozulich’s Boy

Carla Bozulich’s new album, Boy, will be released by the great Constellation Records on March 4th. Though Bozulich may be best known for her work with The Geraldine Fibbers, or the darker, more experimental material of her Evangelista moniker, Boy will be the third full-length album released under her own name. As such, one might expect to hear a more personal, honest, and bare representation of the artist’s sound and vision; interestingly, Boy is being promoted as Bozulich’s “pop record.”

From the press release:

Boy is a refreshing and much-needed reminder of what pop—as an oblique angle, influence, and intent—can do in the hands of a ferociously commanding singer/lyricist who has cut her teeth on genre-bending, genre–blending, and DIY aesthetics.

The track “Lazy Crossbones” opens with a mid-tempo drum pattern—the drums recorded with enough air to define a convincing picture of the performance space—before making room for warm keys, searching guitar, and, of course, Bozulich’s special voice, which is as alluring as it is alarming. The result is something like a wonderfully twisted, damaged Fleetwood Mac single—beautiful, powerful, and chilling: equal parts nightmare and “Dreams.”

We can listen to it now at The Quietus and at Tiny Mix Tapes.

Boy was recorded at Tricone Studios in Berlin by Danny O’Really and Rowan Smy; it was produced and mixed by Bozulich and John Eichenseer. Additional mixing and mastering were handled in Montréal, by Jace Lasek, Ian Ilavsky, and Harris Newman. The gorgeous cover art was also done by Bozulich. The album will be available on CD and LP—the latter, pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal Media (Germany), comes in a heavyweight jacket with poly-lined audiophile dust sleeve, a complete liner insert, pullout poster, and a download code for 320kbps MP3 files of the entire album. Few independent labels manufacture their vinyl releases with as much care as Constellation: each one is a work of art.

For more info, visit Constellation Records.

COMMENTS
michaelavorgna's picture

For those interested in such things but that vinyl version sure looks sweet.

Am I the only one who finds her music a tad frightening (in a good way)?

BooBoo's picture

I can see where you're coming from with frightening. One of my friends asked me what it was like to see Evangelista live, and the only way I could think of to describe it was "it's like being knocked down a flight of stairs and then standing up very carefully, realizing you're okay, and then being really happy."  Not many artists can have that much of an effect on me.

I highly recommend a hard copy. I have all three of the Evangelista records, and the artwork and design have been gorgeous!  

Algee's picture

 The Geraldine Fibbers were incredible live especially w/ Nels Cline.

torturegarden's picture

This one looks good, and that it's on Constellation is a huge bonus. They are my favorite label based on quality of music, packaging, artwork, pressing quality, etc. Anything they put out is worth purchasing. 

NothingIsEasy's picture

I remember two years ago when the first wave of Beatles 50th sentiment went around, that Carla B. had written a piece for the Time Out NY blog where she was asked to discuss Revolver... and she said something (I'm too lazy to look it up) about how they could play with sound but still write songs... I think she does that a lot. I'm a fan of Evangelista... too young for the Geraldine Fibbers but I saw Evangelista at a Todd P show a few years ago and got in deep... complex lyrics, real ideas, real structure but fearlessly experimental. Really want to see where this one goes and yeah, I agree with everyone about Constellation and their willingness to offer FLAC and a superb vinyl package every time.

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