Kevin Bronson on May 12th, 2020

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Marchelle Bradanini will release her solo debut album in July. In today’s edition of Buzz Bands LA’s QUARANTUNES, sink your teeth into the first two singles — and hear how, while her hands are full with two kids at home, Bradanini still has time for her “forever jams.”

THE LATEST FROM MARCHELLE BRADANINI

Stepping away from the moniker Pony Boy, singer-songwriter Marchelle Bradanini has announced that her debut album “Only a Woman” will be out July 3. Setting the mood with a palate of dreamy Americana-noir, Bradanini’s first two singles reveal that ink hasn’t run dry in the poignant pen she used to write Pony Boy songs.

“Oscar Wilde” serves as a reality check for dudes, a response to songs such as Father John Misty’s “The Night Josh Tillman Came to our Apartment” and Leonard Cohen’s “Death of a Ladies’ Man.” “I am a massive fan of both these songs and artists but found myself yearning for the voices of their muted muses,” Bradanini says. “I’ve also run across a certain type of Oscar Wilde quoting mansplainers that I wanted to immortalize in song.” Director Melissa Hunter (Netflix’s “Santa Clarita Diet”) and a cast including Charlene DuGuzman (“Unlovable”), Ross Bryant (“The Good Place”), George Kareman (“Silicon Valley”) and George Basil (“Crashing”) play out a scenario of dead-end dates, with Bradanini watching from the wings at Bar Lubitsch. “We also made the conscious choice to have an almost entirely female crew,” Bradanini says. “We love and appreciate our guys, too, just don’t quote me any Oscar Wilde, please.”

That single followed April’s release of “Red White & Blues,” a starkly political song featuring Nashville singer Tristen. “I recently discovered the term, Kakistocracy, which is a system of government that is run by the worst, least qualified, and/or most unscrupulous citizens,” Bradanini says. “While that seems to sum up this administration adequately, a lot of mothers and women in general can be quick to demote our self-worth and confidence in our own abilities. In a world of wife-bots, nepotism, suppression and plutocrats, it can feel like we’re screaming into the void. Everyday we see people sticking their necks out and realizing it’s time to get off the sidelines (even if the game is rigged). These difficult times have been a wake-up call that there is no perfect moment to do something we’ve put off or have been afraid to try. We deserve to be heard. ‘Red White & Blues’ is my anthem for the ‘losers.’”

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

Marchelle Bradanini: Like a lot of us, I think there are good days and tougher days, but we are healthy and overwhelmingly thankful for that. I have a 9-month-old and a toddler, so my days mostly consist of cleaning up peanut butter off various surfaces and bookmarking New Yorker articles I’m probably never going to read, while watching “90 Day Fiancé” in the background. I try to listen to some music in the evening or just fall into a news abyss on my phone.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

Marchelle Bradanini: Hmm. Seeing people face to face. Zoom drinks isn’t really cutting it. I also miss playing music with my friends.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

Marchelle Bradanini: It’s pretty all over the place, but these are my forever jams. Some L.A. classics like Dennis Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blues,” Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita” (the Ronstadt version is stellar too) and Rilo Kiley’s “Silver Lining” … to what I’d call the greatest cover of the saddest song ever written — Swamp Dogg’s version of John Prine’s “Sam Stone” … to Gram Parsons’ take on the Buck Owen’s country classic, “Together Again” (because this keeps me going) … to the heaviest funk groove of the brilliant Betty Davis and the criminally underrated guitar work of Poison Ivy of the Cramps … to the song that always make me cry – Big Star’s “Thirteen.” Personal shout-outs to Lilly Hiatt on her new release, “Living Proof,” and Fiona Apple’s new masterpiece “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” which also features my longtime collaborator and drummer, Amy Wood. I live for a slow, sad burner, but in these times, I wanted to end with some unadulterated joy and unless you are made of stone, Whitney’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is 100% guaranteed to put a smile on your face.