With the new year fast approaching, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of ‘Best of’ Lists. While it’s always good to look (and listen) back at the songs, albums and artists that shaped this past year—it’s also important to look ahead to the music that will shape 2015. One of those artists looking to make a splash in the coming year is Michigan-born/Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter BØRNS (AKA Garrett Borns).
BØRNS is featured on Spotify‘s recently released Spotlight 2015 as it moves into the music tastemaker space with a carefully curated list of artists tapped to break in the coming year. Also included on the list, Music Is My King Size Bed favorites like Mikky Ekko and Seinabo Sey, as well as artists on my radar that I’ve yet to write about like Aurora, Ryn Weaver and James Bay.
While first single, “10,000 Emerald Pools” didn’t initially sell me, after hearing his EP Candy (Interscope Records) in full—I was a believer. His sound is hard to pin down into one specific genre, so perhaps it’s best that we don’t do that. Infusing 70s folk-rock elements with sparkly bits of pop and effervescent electronica, BØRNS is one of a kind. His debut EP Candy was recorded in Los Angeles at Kennedy Space Station & Studio America and produced by Kennedy and Tommy English. The sparse 4-track collection offers up a healthy mixed bag of sounds to make up for the fact that there are only 4 tracks.
One of the EP’s clear standouts—”Electric Love” should have been the first single in my opinion. While it’s the toe-tapping percussion driving the song along at the beginning, once BØRNS starts in on the verse you’re completely transfixed. For me, the sheer power of his falsetto sounds almost inhuman, at times recalling MGMT‘s Andrew Van Wyngarden (“Electric Feel“) and Rufus Wainwright in other instances. Check out an acoustic performance of “Electric Love” featuring fellow up and comer Zella Day (whose live set I had the extreme privilege of catching at CMJ this past year) BELOW. You can also catch BØRNS on tour with MisterWives starting in February. Check out a list of tour dates BELOW.
Download Candy, out now on iTunes.
Tour Dates w/ MisterWives
Feb 26 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Feb 27 Pittsburgh, PA Club AE
Feb 28 Columbus, OH A&R Bar
Mar 1 Detroit, MI The Shelter
Mar 3 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Mar 4 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
Mar 6 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
Mar 7 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
Mar 9 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Mar 10 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
Mar 12 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Mar 13 West Hollywood, CA The Troubadour
Mar 14 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
Mar 22 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
Mar 24 Nashville, TN The High Watt
Mar 25 Atlanta, GA The Loft
Mar 27 Washington DC U Street Music Hall
Mar 31 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Apr 1 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4J9vDrA0Mo]
Check out BØRNS online:
Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Instagram || SoundCloud