MY BUBBA’S
BIG BAD GOOD FULL ALBUM PREMIERE
ON AMERICAN SONGWRITER BEGINS TODAY
BIG BAD GOOD, OUT APRIL 15
“My bubba is the duo of Sweden’s My and Iceland’s Bubba, women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight. The centerpiece of their tunes are the harmonies, but the backing instrumentation is equally intimate,
from handclaps to an old table harp and acoustic guitar.”
-Bob Boilen, NPR
“Big Bad Good opens with the airy, minimalistic title track that introduces themes of longing, loss and ancestry with lyrical nods to songwriters such as Paul Simon and Bob Dylan.
The remaining songs follow suit with light and playful production as their delicate,
almost identical, voices unify to produce a resounding after-effect.
–American Songwriter
“It’s as if you’re wandering through the world with headphones on,
blocking out the chaos in favor of serenity.”
-Stereogum
The new album by Scandinavian folk duo MY BUBBA can now be heard in its entirety via American Songwriter’s album premiere that launched today. Titled BIG BAD GOOD (Cash Only), My bubba’s third studio album is out next week, April 15. NPR premiered the title track in February. It is available for purchase on iTunes and fans can pre-order the album now through Pledge Music and have access to exclusive concerts, posters, t-shirts, bags, hand-written lyrics and even My Bubba bacteria. Fans can also pre-order via Amazon.
BIG BAD GOOD was recorded with Shahzad Ismaily (Will Oldham, Jolie Holland) at his Brooklyn studio Figure 8 Recording (the hideaway where Richard Hell, Pussy Riot and Nick Zinner converged to record “I Can’t Breathe”). BIG BAD GOOD is a record so intimate and raw, it’s the sonic equivalent of feeling skin-on-skin – as the album’s sensual, black and white nude artwork illustrates. This gorgeously bare sound is the result of My bubba choosing to write the songs in the studio and record them as they emerged, working intuitively and fearlessly.
A video for the song, “Charm,” premiered on Stereogum in March. The video is mysterious and dreamlike, portraying a deer frolicking on the beach and in the ocean. A helicopter almost lands on the water near to where the deer is swimming. The sweet, minimalist beauty of the song adds a calming yet uneasy feeling to the proceedings. It all ends abruptly, leaving the viewer without any answers to the many questions it raises.
My bubba (My Larsdotter — pronounced mee — and Bubba Tomasdottír) has toured with Damien Rice, co-written music with Matthew E. White, recorded with Noah Georgeson, gone karaoke singing with Gillian Welch-and racked up over 5 million Spotify streams along the way. With the new album, the deliciously catchy lead single “Big Bad Good” opens the door to the themes of longing, sexuality, loss and ancestry with a playful, light touch. The single and the album may be quiet, but the soul and sensuality you get with that softness is pure and potent.
Bubba and My met by chance when they became roommates in Denmark in 2008, forming an immediate and effortless musical connection. Soon after, they were invited to tour in Italy – and ended up making their first album; ‘How it’s done in Italy’. Several adventures later, the duo followed up with Goes Abroader, produced by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart). They recorded in two LA studios-the first off Skid Row, the second, Charlie Chaplin’s old mansion, and the album was released in 2014 on Fake Diamond Records (Oh Land).
My bubba toured Europe with Matthew E White in 2013, which led to My co-writing the gorgeous, grooving song “Love is Deep” on White’s Fresh Blood album. In 2014, My bubba met Damien Rice, Sam Amidon and Shahzad Ismaily at a music festival in Iceland; the musicians jammed together, swam together and discovered a creative affinity. When Shahzad invited My Bubba to make a record in his newly-opened studio they intuitively decided to go for it.
The songs on BIG BAD GOOD were recorded as they were written, and most of the takes are among the first times the songs were ever sung-allowing the record to capture the immediate rawness and intimacy of a newborn song.
Tour dates will be announced soon.
