New York City’s Bodega have today shared their new single, ‘City Is Taken’, the second offering from their upcoming third album, Our Brand Could Be Yr Life, set for release April 12th via Chrysalis. The latest single follows on from the release of Our Brand Could Be Yr Life’s lead single, ‘Tarkovski’, which is currently playlisted on BBC Radio 6Music.
Tender, melodic, and telling a captivating story about the band’s relationship with gentrification, ‘City Is Taken’, showcases a different side of the band, adding a new layer of cohesiveness to the overall album.
Of the track, Nikki Belfiglio, joint lead vocalist of Bodega, states:
‘City Is Taken’ is a song about my experience of moving to NYC in 2010. I came to view myself and my artistic role models as a force of gentrification caught in the invisible web on profiteering that follows artists wherever they go. My visual presence became an unwitting symbol of destruction; the antithesis of everything I sought to create.
The track arrives paired with its accompanying music video, directed by Luca Balser, that features Ben and Nikki performing the track in a nocturnal New York City, in front of defunct venues from the city’s musical past alongside the commercial banks and chain restaurants most commonly seen today.
Bodega have recently announced a number of live shows, taking place this Spring, in support of the record Stateside. Already, the band have confirmed a performance at Wide Awake Festival in London, and a series of further dates across the UK and Europe.
The track follows on from the album’s lead single, ‘Tarkovski’, and is their first release since signing to Chrysalis Records.
Already becoming a fan favourite, since featuring in the band’s live set on their last UK tour, the single debuted with Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music last night, and is the first taster of the album. Speaking on the track, joint lead vocalist, Ben Hozie, states:
‘Tarkovski’ is a pun on the famous Russian director and skiing; I was enamoured by his book “Sculpting in Time” but found that many of his professed rules and guidelines for filmmaking were broken by his own filmmaking practices. Theory never really gets at what you want and applying theory to the chaotic practice of art making (while still useful and essential) is like skiing down a wild slope.
Bodega’s third, and most expansive, album yet is a complete reworking of Ben and Nikki’s old band, Bodega Bay’s, sole release, a thirty-three-track album from 2015, an ambitious release that will broaden their palette further than ever before, with a moreish, cohesive, set of tracks that are both incredibly diverse and anthemic.
Bodega are set to play a hometown show this week at Brooklyn’s TV Eye, and have recently shared several new US dates. In the UK, the band are set to appear at Wide Awake Festival in London, with further dates set to be announced soon.
