Bnny — the Chicago band fronted by Jessica Viscius — is an “indie scene staple” (FADER). Today, the quintet presents “Crazy, Baby,” the new single from their forthcoming album, One Million Love Songs, out April 5th via Fire Talk Records. Following lead single, “Good Stuff”— a “hopeful heartbreaker” (Gorilla vs. Bear) wrapped in “a fleecy blend of synth and guitar” (Paste) — “Crazy, Baby” is an ode to fated relations that you know won’t last but can’t help pursuing anyway. Through walls of distorted lap-steel guitar and incisive songwriting, “Crazy, Baby” would be devastating if it weren’t so catchy. “I’m crazy, baby,” Viscius admits, “I thought you knew [...] I’m just born blue.”
Of “Crazy, Baby,” Viscius adds: “‘Crazy, Baby’ is about recognizing patterns in your romantic history and yourself.”
WATCH BNNY’S “CRAZY, BABY” VISUALIZER
There are one million ways to approach love, one million ways to experience love, one million ways in which love shapes both the course of our lives and how we choose to navigate that course. Many of the tracks across One Million Love Songs take it as a given that love will end. In “Crazy, Baby,” Viscius lays out her approach to love songs: “write one quick ’cause nothing lasts,” she sings, suggesting that any attempt to capture the green shoots of love’s first moments also carries within it the dying and decaying of the tree. Viscius is looking love square in its many eyes and describing, with self-awareness and humor, not only what she sees, but what it makes her feel.
Produced by Viscius and recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios with Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo de Souza), One Million Love Songs is a brighter, fuller record that shows Viscius’ immense growth as an arranger and artist. It follows Bnny’s “spare and grieving” (New York Times) debut album, Everything, a raw and honest document whose songs seemed to emanate from Viscius like a personal climate. And while those songs have not lost an ounce of their power, performing them every night live across the US and Europe made for a new and different kind of exhaustion. It’s hard to access your grief all the time; it’s even harder to share it. “I wanted to make songs that are exciting to play—songs that make me feel happy,” Viscius says. “This album is about love after loss, getting older, and just trying to have fun with a broken heart.”
Deep romantic love, breathy lust, generous self-love—and their opposites, self-loathing, resentment, disappointment—all make appearances on One Million Love Songs. To celebrate its release, Bnny will perform a hometown show at The Empty Bottle on Friday, April 19th, followed by a New York performance on Thursday, June 13th at Baby's All RIght. Tickets are on sale now, with more tour dates to come.
PRE-ORDER ONE MILLION LOVE SONGS
WATCH “GOOD STUFF” VIDEO
BNNY TOUR DATES
- Fri. Apr. 19 - Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
- Thu. May 9 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
- Tue. May 14 - London, UK @ Paper Dress Vintage
- Wed. May 15 - Southampton, UK @ Heartbreakers
- Fri. May 17 - Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
- Sat. May 18 - Manchester, UK @ Yes (Moodswings)
- Mon. May 20 - Paris, FR @ Supersonic
- Thu. Jun 13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right