Premiere: Misty Boyce, ‘I Do’

Kevin Bronson on July 15th, 2020

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In between her estimable work as a hired gun, singer-songwriter-keyboardist Misty Boyce had always made time for her solo career, creating vulnerable, evocative indie-pop with gentle uplift and a grounded point of view.

She showed an artistic growth spurt on 2018’s full-length “Get Lost,” and now her fourth album “Genesis” will arrive on Sept. 25. The album reflects both Boyce’s personal deliberations and her observations about changing dynamics in society, especially in women’s roles.

Her new single “I Do” falls in the former category, a soft-spoken, dreamy affirmation weaving its way through forested lo-fi synths and a calming clarinet. Boyce sings of a long drive through the desert on a starry night, heading toward a reunion that will happen at sunrise: “I’m gonna show you all the words I learned that I can’t say.”

“I Do” follows the release of “Genesis N(one),” which features vocals and biting guitar from Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, and which tackles the male-female dynamic head-on. It’s more representative of the album as a whole. “There’s been an awakening about the female experience in the world,” says Boyce, who has logged time as a side player for Sara Bareilles, BØRNS, Lord Huron, Sting and Ingrid Michaelson, among others. “I found myself looking back at my religious upbringing and realizing how much that storytelling informed the way that I move through the world as a woman, and how toxic it is. It’s been really freeing to realize that those were just stories and that I don’t have to live by those archetypes.”

Singer-songwriter Doe Paoro collaborates on “The Clearing,” which turns last year’s fires into a powerful metaphor for the #MeToo movement.

“Genesis” was made with producer Jon Joseph.

||| Stream: “I Do”