Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Basia Bulat’s palace is more of a mindset than a physical location. Her palace can be her apartment, her studio, or the inside of her mind, where she recounts playing music with her family. On her ambitious seventh album, Basia’s Palace, the storied Canadian singer offers listeners a glimpse into her gilded world.
Softer and more expansive than her last few albums, the Montreal-based musician’s latest release showcases the autoharp, an esoteric instrument that’s become a cornerstone of Bulat’s career. It’s sort of a cross between an accordion and a harp, which elicits a glorious, complex sound. While it was historically used in folk and gospel music, Bulat has given the unique instrument a new role in pop to add a full-bodied atmospheric richness.
The album floats in with “My Angel,” a warm track that glimmers of early 2000s radio-friendly pop. Her voice is expansive like Stevie Nicks with the folk sensibilities of Carly Simon. Tender romantic vignettes mingle with lush string arrangements, and from the very beginning, it’s clear the album will deviate from her previous work in favor of intimacy and vulnerability.
She slips in and out of Polish on “Disco Polo,” which she calls an homage to “what [she feels] are the two sides of [her] musical heritage.” Her mother was a classically trained guitar and piano teacher, and her dad’s favorite genre was Disco Polo, a type of Polish folk music. Her multicultural background enriches her music, rather than pulling it in opposite directions. Beams of refracted light peek through airy instrumentals to illuminate childhood memories in the ode to her late father.
“Baby,” an infectious waltz layered with golden synths, nods to a common predicament: “Baby, baby, baby / I don’t learn / Baby, baby, baby / I don’t learn.” In an interview with Exclaim!, she explains writing this song years ago but struggling to get the lyrics and performance right. After becoming a parent, she decided to give it another go, this time articulating these new challenges while falling prey to the same mistakes.
She poses the question, “could I make that predicament something I wanted to dance to? Could I sing the lyrics with joy instead of the sorrow I was channeling in the past?” The dazzling autoharp conjures hope and light, even against the most melancholy and intimate subjects. Basia Bulat props the gates of her palace wide open to let listeners bask in the love for her family, frenzied jam sessions, and the messes left behind.
Disappointing / Average / Good / Great / Phenomenal
Basia’s Palace is out now on Secret City Records. Follow Basia Bulat on Instagram.
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Giliann Karon | @lethalrejection
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