Bernice "Eau de Bonjourno" LP (2021)

Details: Toronto, Ontario-based Bernice released their album, Eau de Bonjourno, in March of 2021. This is a cross-genre record that loosely infuses elements of improvisational and experimental pop, jazz, and musique concrète. RIYL: Everything But The Girl, Tracy Thorn, Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads, Another Michael, et al. New stock, sealed.

Description: "Nearly three years on from that release (for Bernice a rapid turnaround by comparison to the seven-year gap between their 2011 debut and Puff), the band returns with their third full-length, Eau de Bonjourno, out March 5th from Telephone Explosion and figureeight records. It marks their first collaboration with producer Shahzad Ismaily, the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist who has worked with artists as varied as Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, John Zorn, and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. While their genre reconstruction remains distinctly Bernice, Dann’s lyrics bring a newfound focus to storytelling in the present moment, compassionately meeting ourselves where we are, and finding joy in spaces that are familiar but ever-changing.

Eau de Bonjourno, according to Dann, “openly plays with the shape of a pop song,” drawing on the band members’ backgrounds in jazz, subverting rhythmic formulas, and resting in grooves that sit just outside of predictable. Instead of letting instruments take extended solos, the tone is set on opener “Groove Elation” with brief blurts of synthesized sax, patient passages of space, or clusters of beats, tenderly held together by Dann and Williams’ intimate vocals. The album’s sound is experimental in its truest definition, chopped up like musique concrète and then delicately placed back together with the loving touch of a scrapbook collagist. 

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada, and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada. www.canada.ca This album was created with the generous support of the Ontario Creates."

Grade: M (new stock)

TRACK LISTING SIDE A:

A1. Groove Elation
A2. It's Me, Robin
A3. Big Mato
A4. Dry Riverbed

TRACK LISTING SIDE B:

B1. Empty Cup
B2. Personal Bubble
B3. Lone Swan
B4. Infinite Love
B5. We Choose You