I was embarrassingly late getting into Ezra Furman. Of course, I had heard of Ezra Furman and heard of her music, but things just didn't click for me until this year. An absolutely life changing live show at Crystal Ballroom in June changed everything, and as the singles for All of Us Flames were released, I got more and more excited for the album. According to Wikipedia, Furman's musical styles are art pop, alternative pop, indie pop, and indie folk. Her music is all of those styles, but it is also just more. The songs on All of Us Flames don't really fit any specific genre. She just weaves from musical style to musical style between songs and often within the same song. This is the kind of album that feels completely unique while also feeling strangely familiar. The songs on the album have elements of indie rock, doo wop, classic rock, folk, 80's New Wave... Furman's music is truly without genre. The more time you spend with this album the more you'll be rewarded.
Songs of note: "Forever in Sunset," "Point Me Toward the Real," "Book of Our Names," and "Lilac and Black"
There is no artist out there making music quite like Ezra Furman is. Her latest single, "Poor Girl a Long Way From Heaven," Furman takes her trademark unique blend of indie rock and pop and injects a little bit of gospel or spiritual music into it. Furman's music combines a vibe that is hers and hers alone with sounds that are almost familiar. "Poor Girl a Long Way From Heaven" has an interesting 1980's Madonna goes modern indie rock feel, which mostly comes from Furman's delivery. There aren't many (or truly, any) indie artists out there today that are going to remind you of gospel and Madonna, but that's the beauty of Ezra Furman.
Ezra Furman says of her new single:
“The spiritual life ain’t all pious platitudes. This song is about how weird it gets, when you’re in love with the Source of Being and She’s not texting you back. Ever since it hit me that I was never going to be loved and accepted on the scale of my pop star heroes, me and my bandmates have started to work on a different vision of pop, one more our own, one that gestures at the stranger truths of the human mind. Here we are in thrall to verbally adventurous nineties music like Bjork and Beck and the Silver Jews and them kinda non-linear geniuses.”
You can watch the video for "Poor Girl a Long Way From Heaven" below. All of Us Flames is due out August 26 on Bella Union, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Ezra Furman, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Sun. Aug. 14 - Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom ^ Tues. Aug. 16 - Milwaukee, WI @ UWM Panther Arena ^ Wed. Aug. 17 - Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park ^ Thu. Aug. 18 - Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival Tues. Aug 23 - Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh International Festival Wed. Aug 24 – Leeds, UK, - Brudenell Social Club Mon. Sep. 12 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa ! Tue. Sep. 13 - Toronto, ON @ Rec Room ! Wed. Sep. 14 - Detroit, MI @ The Loving Touch ! Thu. Sep. 15 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Small's ! Fri. Sep. 16 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ! Sun. Sep. 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts ! Mon. Sep. 19 - Providence, RI @ Fete Ballroom ! Tue. Sep. 20 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair ! Wed. Sep. 21 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall ! Thu. Sep. 22 - Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival Mon. Oct. 31 - Bruges, BE @ Cactus Club Tue. Nov. 1 - Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo Wed. Nov. 2 - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredenburg Thu. Nov. 3 - Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich Sat. Nov. 5 - Cologne, DE @ Kulturkirche Sun. Nov. 6 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaaal Kreutzberg Mon. Nov. 7 - Prague, CZ @ Roxy Tue. Nov. 8 - Vienna, AT @ Arena Wien Wed. Nov. 9 - Graz, AT @ Dom Im Berg Thurs. Nov. 10 – Leipzig, DE - TransCentury Update Festival Sat. Nov. 12 - Fribourg, CH @ Fri-Son Sun. Nov. 13 - Munich, DE @ Freiheitshalle Mon. Nov. 14 - Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom Wed. Nov. 16 - Brighton, UK @ St Georges Church Thu. Nov. 17 - London, UK @ The Roundhouse Sat. Nov. 19 - Birmingham, UK @ The Mill Mon. Nov. 21 - Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz ^ with Jack White ! with Art Moore supporting All Oct/Nov shows are with The Golden Dregs supporting
The latest from Ezra Furman is what we've come to expect from the artist. "Lilac and Black" is a virtually genre-less song that borrows from many different styles while sounding entirely unique. There are elements of folk, pop, dance, punk, and all the multi-hyphenate genres in between, but it doesn't truly sound like any of those. It's a little too electronic to be rock, but too rock to be electronic. Plus, despite being about Furman's "queer girl gang" taking over a city from their oppressors, the song isn't as punk as you'd expect. It starts off quite quiet and contemplative. It does build and get more rock as it goes on, but the music never matches the venom in Furman's voice.
Ezra Furman says of her new song:
“I’ve started to think of us trans women as a kind of secret gang, scattered across the world. Or that we could be that. So I wrote this theme song for us, and gave us some gang colors: lilac and black. Unfortunately, being trans usually comes with some kind of threat to one’s well-being or even one’s life. The hostility toward us right now is intense and the stakes are high. This song is an expression of deep solidarity and willingness to defend our lives.Being an inherently peaceful person, I hate to imagine it, but there are times that violent self-defense, or defense of others, is the moral and necessary path. This song is about being ready for that. It’s also about how being trans so often feels like a war we never asked for. On top of the seemingly endless social stigma and barriers to our general thriving, various governments have now set in motion a concerted movement to virtually outlaw healthy trans existence. Let it be known: we demand safety, resources and dignity, and we are ready to fight for our lives and the lives of others.”
You can watch the video for "Lilac and Black" below. All of Us Flames is due out August 26 on ANTI- Records and Bella Union. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Ezra Furman, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Thu. Jul. 21 - Valencia, ES @ Diversity Festival
Sun. Jul. 24 - Hertfordshire, UK @ Standon Calling Festival
Sun. Aug. 14 - Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom ^
Tues. Aug. 16 - Milwaukee, WI @ UWM Panther Arena ^
Wed. Aug. 17 - Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park ^
Thu. Aug. 18 - Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival
Tues. Aug 23 - Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh International Festival
Wed. Aug 24 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Mon. Sep. 12 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa !
Tue. Sep. 13 - Toronto, ON @ Rec Room !
Wed. Sep. 14 - Detroit, MI @ The Loving Touch !
Thu. Sep. 15 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Small's !
Fri. Sep. 16 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar !
Sun. Sep. 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts !
Mon. Sep. 19 - Providence, RI @ Fete Ballroom !
Tue. Sep. 20 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair !
Wed. Sep. 21 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall !
Thu. Sep. 22 - Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival
Mon. Oct. 31 - Bruges, BE @ Cactus Club *
Tue. Nov. 1 - Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo *
Wed. Nov. 2 - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredenburg *
Thu. Nov. 3 - Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich *
Sat. Nov. 5 - Cologne, DE @ Kulturkirche *
Sun. Nov. 6 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaaal Kreutzberg *
Mon. Nov. 7 - Prague, CZ @ Roxy *
Tue. Nov. 8 - Vienna, AT @ Arena Wien *
Wed. Nov. 9 - Graz, AT @ Dom Im Berg *
Thurs. Nov 10 - Leipzig, DE @ Transcentiry Update Festival
