I think it’s pretty safe to say that Mykki Blanco had our attention when they announced earlier this summer that they were entering their “Italian cowboy era.” With the reveal of their thumping, club-ready single “Holidays in the Sun” it was evident that Blanco’s latest reinvention would take the form of a carefree, globe-trotting adventure of queer ecstasy and trauma—“a Gregg Araki daydream,” as they describe it—in both a literal and existential sense with the assistance of production from FaltyDL.
Brief as it may be, their new EP Postcards From Italia manages to house subject matter ranging from the surreality that was the summer of 2020 to an opening track bluntly celebrating the joys of sex over the spaghetti-Western-est beat the collection has to offer. Yet even when things feel over the top, Blanco assures us that it’s all in earnest. “I, Mykki Blanco, may have come on the scene pioneering a subgenre of hip-hop, queer rapping my way across the world,” they disclaim, “but I’ve been creating music now for a decade and I can very well croon if I like, and I shimmy in a rhinestone pair of trousers across a linoleum floor if I like, and I can go on any kind of sonic journey I like. This is my America!”
With the EP arriving today via Transgressive, we asked Blanco to take us deeper into each of its six tracks, documenting their growth as a songwriter along the way. “My songwriting and the quality of my music has two carbon footprints: 2012 to 2020, and 2020 and beyond”—the latter of which so far includes their game-changing Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep project, as well as a slew of collaborations with everyone from Blood Orange to Special Interest to literally Michael Stipe—“I am happy you all continue to be by my side as I journey into adulthood!”
Pick up where you left off on the journey below.
1. “Magic on My Back”
“Magic on my Back” is meant to pour itself into your headphones like a strong Appalachian moonshine. The song is a blatant croon about the joy of good sex and having more of it, please, if your partner would so willingly oblige. It’s perfect for a ride up to visit Dolly Parton’s theme park “Dollywood” or Elvis Presley’s “Graceland.” Though I must warn you: “Magic on My Back” is not a spoof. I, Mykki Blanco, may have come on the scene pioneering a subgenre of hip-hop, queer rapping my way across the world, but I’ve been creating music now for a decade and I can very well croon if I like, and I shimmy in a rhinestone pair of trousers across a linoleum floor if I like, and I can go on any kind of sonic journey I like. This is my America!
2. “Johnny”
“Johnny” is the closest equivalent to a sit-down with Oprah Winfrey that I’ve yet to snag in my career. The song is a time capsule of my childhood and young adulthood: abuse, self-destruction, abandonment, promiscuity, rejection—it’s a Gregg Araki daydream, it’s a hustler’s swan song.
3. “Just a Fable”
“Just a Fable” is a Polaroid snapshot of the world in the aftermath of the tragic murder of George Floyd. Rioting has taken over the streets, the puppet government is telling lie after lie, and hundreds of thousands of people are dying of COVID-19. We find an interracial couple at odds with the world around them; inequality isn’t so hard to decipher, but privilege can be more tricky, and sometimes misguided empathy can feel just as toxic as a blatant disregard for one’s emotions. Things are sticky, and while the streets are filled with people laying on the ground and bending on their knees screaming, “Hands up, don’t shoot!” our two love birds in a deep embrace can’t help but feel so very cold and so very alone. It’s just a fable of every city in America—it’s just a fable of the United States and all the wars it wages on its own people.
4. “Tequila Casino Royale”
It’s 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. You’ve called out of work that morning—something you used to do quite often in your younger years, but now you would never think of it. One of your best friends from college is in town, a musician who’s getting married in three weeks. Sure there’ll be a bachelor party in a few days, but as of today it’s just you and him. What do you know, he’s snuck a bag of magic mushroom chocolates onto the airplane, and, by gee, oh golly, that bottle of Jack Daniels has just finished itself. And pretty soon you’re sneaking out of a matinee of an old movie theater that was screening Casino just as Sharon Stone is bouncing across the screen. Your best friend has let loose a fire extinguisher inside the theater and now you’re both covered in thick, white, talc-like powder and running out of the emergency exit and, fuck it, you leave the car, dip inside a second-hand thrift shop, change your clothes, and find the nearest hotel bar with a pool. Yeah, that feeling.
5. “Love Fell Down Around Me”
"Love Fell Down Around Me" is one of the coolest songs I think I've ever written. Produced by London duo God Colony, it's a record that as soon as it comes on it seems to float into the room and hang like a mysterious fog. It’s magnetic. The Epiphone semi-acoustic guitar croons over the track, invoking remnants of Chris Isaak but feeling wholly contemporary. Morgan Lorelle delivers the chorus with such an enigmatic confidence—she's a siren on this song, and you just fall to your knees as she gives it to you straight: “It's so good ’til it’s gone / Your love fell down around me.”
This song was written about the breakup of a marriage, quite simply, but the narrator is quite pompous in a way—you can tell he really thinks a lot of himself. There’s a kind of zen-like nonchalance that I peppered into the songwriting that I hope shines through. Lewis Daniel on flute adds this very nice patina to the whole thing. I wanted the listener not to feel weighed down by all the drama happening within the song, and flute is this vehicle that picks things up and keeps you grooving. My songwriting and the quality of my music has two carbon footprints: 2012 to 2020, and 2020 and beyond... I am happy you all continue to be by my side as I journey into adulthood!
6. “Holidays in the Sun”
“Holidays in the Sun” was created, funnily enough, in a basement in Portugal on Christmas Eve. Produced by William Eaves of Somerset, written by Mykki Blanco with additional writing and vocals by artist ZamZam, the song is a feel-good summer anthem about lazy summer days swimming in the sea, hopping from one music festival to the next, feeling good about life, and living la dolce vita, soaking up the sun. The song is a summer rave bop with nods to ’90s Euro dance and acid house stretching itself, hitting every corner of the world from the beaches of Ibiza and Naples to warehouses parties in London and Berlin. Enjoy!
