Bosola – Vanilla Beige (2024)
Unafraid to delve into those less pleasant areas of reality, pluck out the grittiness and lay everything bare before audiences, Bosola touches on toxic relationships, broken spirits, and emotional turmoil in each single. Hitting the ground running, the Newcastle-based foursome stuff elements of indie-rock, punk, grunge, and post-punk into a blender then blitz up an unconventional sonic drink shimmering before all listeners in its glory and grit.
Riding their string of success over the past year, Bosola share hints of The Smiths and Sonic Youth in ‘Truth Man’ followed by a whisper of vintage Radiohead in ‘Comfort Disorder’; however, Tim Cox (vocals and guitar), Austin Peters (lead guitar), Pete Waldock (bass) and Rob Woolfenden (drums) seemly find an eclectic tone that is entirely Bosola amidst the whispers of old-school influences. The latest addition to their discography is the single ‘Vanilla Beige’.
Following the well-received song ‘Comfort Disorder’ – a single about “reaching the end of your tether in a relationship” – ‘Vanilla Beige’ carries the discomfort of stark reality through to the conceptual ‘Vanilla Beige’. Instead of personal narratives of challenging experiences, Bosola grasps the concerns of a generation, delves deeply into the raw emotion, and leaves listeners confounded but oddly comforted. Tim Cox explains:
“’Vanilla Beige’ is a song about muted rage, mental illness and trauma in a society that straitjackets people into a life of emotional avoidance, masking and surface-level conformity. It’s a reflection on a millennial generation caught between an increasingly incompetent older generation instilling the stiff upper lip mentality and younger generations who have increasingly focused on emotional intelligence and awareness resulting in an overwhelming sense of material and emotional impotence.”
Recorded and produced at Polestar Studios, Alex Blamire and Antony Chapmen (who mastered the track) bring the voice of a generation to life in ‘Vanilla Beige’. With a shimmer of The Hives and The Libertines twinkling in the single, ‘Vanilla Beige’ is an anthem to life with pounding drums, a pulsating bass, soaring guitars, and Cox’s rich vocals. Interestingly, while each instrument weaves in a brash head-whipping indie-rock song, a lull exists in the centre like the eye of a storm. A stark bubbling of realisation in a dull flush before rage rears its head coming out in a desperate voice of confusion and turmoil.
Find out more about Bosola on their Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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