Bernice Share a Playlist of the Instrumental Music That Influenced Their New Album

The experimental pop opus “Eau de Bonjourno” arrives this Friday via Telephone Explosion.
Playlist
Bernice Share a Playlist of the Instrumental Music That Influenced Their New Album

The experimental pop opus “Eau de Bonjourno” arrives this Friday via Telephone Explosion.

Words: Mike LeSuer

photo by Colin Medley

March 03, 2021

Through their individual careers playing in backing bands for artists ranging from Andy Shauf to Beverly Glenn-Copeland, the members of Bernice have absorbed an unbelievably wide scope of performing experience—as well as a broad spectrum of influences that inspired those artists they’ve played with. Naturally, the songs they compose together draw on a little bit of everything, from jazz and R&B to minimalist electronics and conventional rock.

Eau de Bonjourno, their latest opus, progressively hums and blips along through dance-y moments (recalling recent upbeat experimental jam projects like P.E.) and periods of introspection, resulting in a record that’s as pleasant as it is hard to pin down. While Robin Dann provides a vocal anchor through this serpentine tracklist, her backing band—keyboardist/guitarist Thom Gill, e-percussionist Philippe Melanson, bassist Daniel Fortin, and vocalist Felicity Williams—introduce all types of unique sounds that zag every time you anticipate a zig.

To speak to the instrumental side of the project, the band is sharing a playlist of non-vocal songs that helped shape the record, providing insight into each pick. Hear that below, and read on for a bit of commentary. You can pre-order the new record here.

Sawako, “jupiter c.loud”

Robin: This album gets me through.

Lindsay Cooper, “Botticelli”

Thom: Canterbury and beyond superstar, you always know it’s her. Her dark, earthy double-reed tones flatulating across your clothesline. Her comfy-cozy, retro-alien, light-is-dark harmonic lingos. Major. Rest on…. 

Actress, “Holy Water”

Phil: I love loops and digital texture.

Reid Anderson / Dave King / Craig Taborn, Golden Valley Is Now, “City Diamond”

Dan: I love this record. All of the parts are meticulously composed, but when everything is put together it has this energy that feels improvised somehow. 

David Virelles, “The Scribe” 

Felicity: I don’t know how to dream, but I’m dreaming.

William Lawes, Consort Music, “Fantazy (the sunrise)”

Robin: It’s like a perpetual opening, like a flower reaching up forever. Four hundred years old and still brand new.

Mary Watkins, “Silent Praise”

Thom: Huge fan of the whole Olivia Records world, but especially anything Mary has been a part of. This 2003 “meditational” is a newer vibe for her. Feels like pre-mirror stage Twin Peaks. Everything dry, thank gosh. (Peep the Olivia YouTube channel for a very recent home concert with Mary—a must.)

Ellen Arkbro, “Three”

Phil: I love patience and tuning.

Kenny Drew Trio, Pal Joey, “Do It the Hard Way”

Dan: I come back to this recording a lot—actually, sometimes I’ll just listen to the first five seconds a few times in a row. The rhythm section hookup is so beautiful, so instantly swinging right off the bat.

Arve Henriksen, “Plume of Ash” 

Feli: Bought this record on a whim at Amoeba in LA and listened to this song over and over on subsequent drives through the desert—it’s acquired those vistas in my mind’s ear. If I could wallpaper my inner life with this shade of happy-sad, I might.