LOS ANGELES, CA- On April 10th, the L.A.-based alternative band Bizou released a new EP titled Stillifeburning. It’s a solid collection of four pulsing, synth-laden, darkwave, post-punk tracks that’ll have you longing to be in a dark club, wearing black, nodding your head to the beat en masse with a sweaty crowd. Bizou is fronted by singer Marisa Prietto (Wax Idols/Glaare), features the talents of multi-instrumentalist/producer Josiah Mazzaschi (Light FM), Nicole Fiorentino (one-half of the duo the Cold and Lovely and former bassist for Smashing Pumpkins) and guitarist Nicki Nevlin (Light FM). Stillifeburning serves as a solid follow-up to the self-titled EP they released in 2019.
They released the video for their first single from Stilllifeburning, “Crashing Sky”, last month. Its aesthetic compliments the band’s musical style. It’s both colorful and foreboding; retro yet modern. Of the video, Marissa Prietto has said:
“Echoing 90s MTV, the self-directed video captures the band in a vivid haze of glitch and clouds. Intercut with scraps of lyrics, the effect is at once as intimate and mysterious as the song itself.”
“Crashing Sky” is the opening track of the new EP. The foreboding impulse of “Crashing Sky” is continued with the introspective “Burn Your Name”, which builds on the sonic tension initiated in the opener. “Kiss the Stars” has a more optimistic and hopeful tone, but there’s an underlying push and pull of light and dark which makes the song’s theme of unrequited love quite intriguing.
“Trapdoor” was a particularly impactful song, especially during these odd and stressful times. Of the EP, Marisa has previously explained that it was an album about really thinking delving into the subconscious of others:
“If you could dive into the subconscious of another person totally separate from you, as if through a trapdoor — that to me would describe the feeling of these songs.”
With its opening lyrics, “Hide me from ordinary life”, I immediately asked myself, “What is ordinary these days?” The lyrics, especially in the chorus, feel particularly poignant as the lyrics suggest the feelings of lonliness despite having everyone’s eye you. A pretty approprirate setintient considering the times we live in if you ask me.
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