Montreal-based singer-songwriter Basia Bulat finds a new direction – without neglecting her folk roots – on her 7^th album, Basia’s Palace.

Release Date:  21^st February 2025

Label: Secret City Records

Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital

BASIA BULAT

Montreal-based singer-songwriter Basia Bulat is, perhaps, best known for her autoharp-accompanied songs, delivered in her signature live-performance-drive style. A style that she’s perfected over a string of albums dating back to her 2007 debut, Oh, My Darling.  So, if that’s the kind of fare that you’re expecting from her new offering, Basia’s Palace, then think again, because, this time around, Basia has embraced a softer, more textural sound. Derived from her use of MIDI technology, her conventional compositional aids – piano, guitar and autoharp – are moved gently, and slightly, to one side.

Born Barbara Josephine Bulat in Etobicoke, Ontario to Polish parents, Basia first appeared on stage back in her student days at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.  Her debut release was an eponymously-titled EP in 2005.  Basia’s Palace will be her 7^th full-length album release and it follows her 2022 offering, The Garden.  During her 20-year career, Basia has received three Polaris Music Prize shortlistings and five Juno Award nominations, one of which was for her 2013 album, Tall Tall Shadow, which reached #25 on the Billboard Album Chart.

A NEW DIRECTION

The title of new album, Basia’s Palace relates both to Basia’s Montreal apartment and to the ‘space inside her head,’ both of which she describes as: “…festooned with love, memory and bad wiring.”  The album is a collection of songs that don’t feel like anything that Basia has released before.  Here, it’s MIDI soundscapes that float, gleam and dominate, although the anchor to a folkier past hasn’t been completely withdrawn. Listen closely enough and you’ll spot those roots, and you’ll find that they’re alive and well.

DISC RHYTHMS AND CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

And, so, it’s no surprise to hear the disco rhythms. Bass and percussive sounds and light-touch string effects set the scene for opening track, My Angel.  The song is one of three singles to precede the album’s release, all of which have received a warm welcome from the broadcast and print media.  Basia’s voice is light and suitably angelic, although it takes on a huskier tone for Baby, another of those media-shaking singles.  Basia’s autoharp makes a discrete appearance, but it’s the dance rhythms that dominate on song that’s bright and poppy, with a distinctly gospel edge.

There’s an 80s feel to the shimmering Spirit and there’s a slight shiver in Basia’s voice as she delivers her lines, before we’re returned to the here-and-now for the piano ballad, Right Now.  String sounds provide the drama and Basia’s voice is both vulnerable and impassioned.

POLISH ROOTS

Basia revisits her Polish roots as she recalls the family experiences of her childhood with the excellent Disco Polo, the latest of the album’s three singles.  Basia’s lyrics – “My mama would play guitar, papa had his disco/disco polo” – celebrate the musical instincts she inherited from her parents.

As she explains: “This is an homage to what I feel like is the two sides of my musical lineage. My mother was a classically-trained piano and guitar teacher and my father’s favourite genre was Disco Polo.  About the only thing we could all agree on was the oldies radio station that was the peacemaker of our home when I was a child.  I wanted to write something that felt like a folk tale about those genres and how they still influence me after all this time. Even now, every time I sit down at the piano, all those different musical worlds swirl around each other and try to dance together in my mind.”

And the song?  It’s a triumphant blend of acoustic strings and MIDI technology – gentle and thoroughly enjoyable.

COSMIC INSPIRATION

Basia continues in a folky vein for the bright, dreamy, The Moon. A song in which, with lyrics like: “I know it’s just another phase, another memory in our lives,” she uses the phases of the moon as a metaphor for the on/off state of a relationship.  We stick with cosmic inspiration for the ethereal Daylight.  Basia’s autoharp in much in evidence as synths provide the song’s feather-light accompaniment. There’s a tone of certainty in her voice as she asks: “When are you gonna see yourself the way I see you?” and the tune is inspiring and uplifting.

I get the impression that Basia is, once again, reflecting upon a happy childhood, specifically the guidance and direction she received from her parents as she sings “I heard the sound of paradise found in her laughter.”  The song’s title is Laughter, and sharp, sparkly synth sounds fill the gaps between Basia’s recollections until, three minutes in, the track blossoms into a full-bore electronic anthem.

RECONCILIATION

If Basia’s folky roots have been visible only sporadically throughout most of Basia’s Palace. They stage an unmistakable comeback as she reverts to her live-performance-driven persona for closing track, Curtain Call.  The electronics are still present, but they’ve been wound back, with priority given to Basia’s intimate vocal and her accompanying autoharp.  I’m reminded of the late, lamented Melanie as Basia delivers her lyrics with a confident passion. I can’t help feeling that, with this song, she’s achieved a full – and lasting – reconciliation between her past and her present.

Late news!! Basis has just added UK dates to her 2025 European tour. She’ll be here in June and she’s scheduled to play shows in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow. Full details can be found here.

Watch the Nora Rosenthal-directed official video to Disco Polo, the latest of three singles to be taken from the album, here:

Basia Bulat online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / YouTube / Bandcamp

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