NEW ALBUM EROTICA VERONICA OUT THIS FRIDAY VIA NETTWERK
Miya Folick shares “Felicity,” the new single and final preview from her anticipated self-produced third album Erotica Veronica out this Friday, February 28th, via Nettwerk.
Musically, “Felicity” is the breakaway track. It is the only song which was not originally written on acoustic guitar. Instead, Miya wrote it in collaboration with Jared Solomon (Remi Wolf, Lola Young), and layered synths and woodwinds atop of traditional instrumentation. The song points to the lesser-known definition of the word felicity: “finding appropriate expression for one’s thoughts,” which, Miya says, is “a cornerstone of the album: putting language to how I feel, which I didn’t do for so long because I didn’t know it was a feeling I was allowed to have.” Apt articulation, “Felicity” suggests, promises to bring us into closer connection with those we love, and with ourselves.
Folick is both audacious and hauntingly profound on Erotica Veronica, her psychosexual, psychosensual masterstroke: a kaleidoscopic portrait of self-realization and integration. There is a dilemma that haunts the record. There is a partner on the receiving end of these confessions. The song and the album seem to wonder: what is the right thing to do when your desires are more complex than the narrow channel our culture allows? “The album is about being queer within a heteronormative relationship structure and within a heteronormative society, but it’s also just about desire and eroticism in general. I don’t think we give each other enough room to explore freely and figure out our own right paths,” she says.
The album features contributions from Sam KS (Youth Lagoon, Angel Olsen) as co-producer and drummer, Meg Duffy (Hand Habits, Perfume Genius), Waylon Rector (Dominic Fike, Charli XCX), and Greg Uhlmann (Perfume Genius, SML) on guitar, and Pat Kelly (Perfume Genius, Levi Turner) on bass.
1. Erotica
2. La Da Da
3. Alaska
4. Felicity
5. Fist
7. Prism of Light
8. Hates Me
9. Hypergiant
10. Love Wants Me Dead
11. Light Through the Linen
The album cover of Erotica Veronica captures Miya Folick canted on the edge of a mud pit high up in Angeles National Forest, limbs flung wide like a fever-dream fossilized midway between earth and primordial soup. It’s an apt portrait: Miya is driven by instinct, drawn to the murk and muck of growth rather than stalled by its complexity. This brazen spirit is what led her to self-produce her latest full-length record, Erotica Veronica. The record is arguably her most canonical work thus far: saturated with her catchy lyrical sensibility, astute musical craftsmanship, and her signature vaulting, acrobatic voice.
Both critically acclaimed precursors to Erotica Veronica – her debut Premonitions and sophomore LP Roach – have been lauded as coming-of-age rhapsodies. It is tempting to say the same of Erotica Veronica; after all, this new album shows us a woman running headlong into sexual exploration, often teetering on the adolescent edge of hedonism and fear. Yet, unlike the feral freedom of youth, this roving spirit is anchored by the particular wisdom and depth gained only through lived experience. Perhaps it was the witchy riddle of Premonitions joined with Roach’s excoriating honesty which prepared her for this deep dive into the sensual world.
The record was written in a lightning month and a half, on the heels of a brutal, burn-out stretch of touring. Determined to make a straight-shooting indie rock record, Miya turned to guitar to write a majority of the album. She went into the studio with the intention of capturing raw, live sound – opting for full takes rather than splicing and editing recordings together. The clarity of the sonic landscape is a fitting foil for the record’s thematic cats-cradle. Lyrically, we find conflicting moods and feelings crossing paths, as if Miya were tracing her way back to vitality through a hedge maze of herself.
Folick’s tour in support of Erotica Veronica kicks off on April 23rd and goes through the end of May. All dates below – tickets are available now via miyafolick.com.
“The way she just takes us to the stratosphere on this song and then brings us back down to earth could not be better” – NPR Music
“Both lyrically and vocally, Folick is a trapeze artist, plunging into uncertain, dark depths only to spring to the other side of the divide.” – Pitchfork
“Plays out like a psychosexual epic, is sonically rich, overflowing with orchestral flourishes, spiraling song structures and lived-in acoustic textures that render Folick’s clear-eyed lyricism in vivid detail.” – PAPER
“The kind of pipes that just don’t seem teachable.” – Paste
“For her forthcoming third album, Erotica Veronica, [Folick] strikes back with unabashed confidence. Its opening quasi-title track, garnished with glossy, gossamer synth arpeggios that slowly yield to strident percussion and acoustic guitars, mirrors her newfound sexual assurance…Adorned with sweet melodies and sultry sentiments, ‘Erotica’ radiates.” – Uproxx
“A guitar-forward musical journey of sexual exploration.” – AV Club
“Folick’s work has varied a lot stylistically over the years, and this song is firmly situated in the boygenius zone, matching its sensual visuals with an acoustic-driven indie-pop sound.” – Stereogum
Tour Dates:
4/23 – St Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar and Hall
4/24 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
4/25 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
4/27 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
4/29 – Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
4/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
5/1 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
5/9 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
5/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
5/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
5/15 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
5/16 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
5/17 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
5/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
5/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord (BottleRock AfterDark)
5/23 – Napa, CA @ BottleRock Festival
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