“This is the beginning of anything you want.” – BOY

I highlighted this band as one of my top ten finds of 2011. And as I’ve noted before, one of the things that that makes my love run true and deep is not one, not two, but an entire album’s worth of quality tunes. BOY’s album, Mutual Friends, dishes up twelve stellar songs. Okay fine, there’s one I’m not crazy about, but just one. I can live with that.

Valeska Steiner & Sonja Glass sing about life, the kind of life I can relate to. There’s depth and beauty to their lyrics and spine-tingling purity in their delivery. The opening song sets the pace of the entire album, which is as it should be – but it would seem this sort of set-up is a forgotten art or at least, a fading one. “This is the beginning of anything you want, this is the beginning.” Perfection. It makes for a pretty solid mantra. I might paint it on my ceiling so I wake to it each morning.

The first song begins the journey with hope and a longing for adventure and the last song, the one I’m sharing, wraps the album with graceful resolve.

Take off your shoes now; you’ve come a long way.
You’ve walked all these miles and now you’re in the right place…
I’ll hold your hand my dear; make sure no one’s going to wake you.
Tomorrow you’ll still be here, no matter where your dreams will take you.
And you realize all the falls and flights, all those sleepless nights,
all those smiles and sighs, they brought you here.
They only brought you home.

I don’t need an excuse to be introspective. The space I occupy is a naturally reflective space. I try to live firmly in the moment, but in truth, my mind is always swimming in memories and my heart is always yearning for the future.

Walt Whitman said it best, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

I’m a dreamer who believes the greatest moments are yet to come. The anticipation for the unknown can be a bit overwhelming. And still, I look at where I’ve been and I’m a mess of tears and laughter. I have a healthy respect for the past. I like who I am and I know that even the moments I’m not proud of played their part in my development. I’ve done a fair amount of wallowing in my mistakes – turning them inside out until I can see the good that has come from them, the lesson learned. Some I wouldn’t repeat, but most I would. It has taken considerable contemplation to get to this place, but I like it. Balance is key; I’m continuously on a quest for moderation. Emotional thing that I am, it’s easy to get carried away. It’s no surprise that I use music to channel my emotions.

It’s almost absurd how good this is.

*It’s been pointed out to me how difficult it is to get your hands on this album. It’s not available through iTunes (US) or Amazon (US) – but here’s a link. Look for the currency options at the top of the page.
http://shop.groenland-records.com/lang-en/67-boy-mutual-friends-download-.html

And here’s their website:
http://www.listentoboy.com/

* 3/8/13 – UPDATE
It’s been a year since I wrote this post, and I’m pleased to tell you this album was just released on US iTunes.

*3/24/13 – UPDATE
I finally saw these ladies live – you can see video HERE.