Desperation is key in the world of Ezra Furman. From the songwriting to her powerful distorted voice to the stressed out guitars, she has the ability to scream at the top of her lungs and get any point across.
It really doesn’t matter if Furman plays punk, avant garde or turns the sound all the way down. She still has an ability to create strong and powerful music.
Furman calls her latest effort, Twelve Nudes, her punk album, and it is quite punk indeed. It’s filled with speed, power, despair and distortion, while holding a catchy tune throughout.
The record opens with “Calm down aka I Should Not Be Alone,” a simple, angry song that builds up with a Rolling Stones-inspired choir. The next song, “Evening Prayer aka Justice,” is another great Furman track that almost perfectly lingers into the beautiful and sentimental song ”Transmission From Nowhere to Nowhere.”
She reveals the true darkness in her lyrics when she sings, “Nobody cares if you’re dying ’til you’re dead,” before ending with “Remember I tried to ask what it means to be a man? They threw me in the back of a truck and they tied my hands.”
Ezra’s themes about identity, gender and love are visible throughout the album. (She recently began identifying as transgender). It’s not hard to imagine how difficult it must have been growing up and trying to figure it all out. Especially on “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend,” it’s clear what a desperate struggle it can be just finding out who you really are.
At just 27 minutes long, Twelve Nudes is a true punk album. Ezra Furman will always be a punk at heart, no matter what genre she’s playing around with.
Score: 💋💋💋💋 / 5
