New Boyish: “Saudade”

Apologies if this blog has seemed a bit nostalgic lately…that’s partially because many of the artists that were formative for me from 2010 — 2013 when doing this came back with new material that has put me in a weird headspace. And now here comes indie-pop outfit Boyish, a group that started life as a bunch of guys playing zippy and melancholy twee-adjacent rock under a layer of feedback. But I’ve also realized — especially after listening to “Saudade” — how much of my experiences with certain bands are just, like, things I’ll never really be able to share with most people. Shout out to the two dozen people who went to Shibuya Echo (more a living room than a livehouse) to watch Boyish play every few months, but for most folks this is nothing. I think this realization — which, really, I should have had much earlier in life, but that’s 2018 for you — makes “Saudade” hurt a little more. It’s a slow, mournful number, punctured by a saxophone that opts for sadness over urban chilling. It’s probably a little too long a sulk session, but I’m also in a zone where I am happy to soak myself in it. Listen above.