Bobby Conn - Recovery (2020)

What's the point of recovery if we were never really healthy to begin with? I started working on this record about four years ago, thinking of the American obsession with self-help, self-care, and self-empowerment as a cruel and cheap substitute for helping each other. It's a concept that rewards those that have the money to help themselves, and blames those that don't for not trying hard enough. Then there were some elections. Now there is a narrative of "recovering" our stronger, bolder, racially pure, cultural and economic glory days. And then some of my friends started getting sick, or dying or committed suicide. So it got real. But don't worry - the record doesn't sound depressing! As always, the sound is the past 50 years of art rock and soul tossed into a blender and set on liquify. I was really into 10cc, J Dilla, Liaisons Dangeroux, Jean Claude Vannier, Anna Meredith, Slade, D'Angelo, etc. when writing this record, but I'm sure you can hear it for yourself. Musically, this is a collaboration with my partner Monica BouBou on violin and vocals and our Superband of drummer Josh Johannpeter, bassist Jim "Dallas" Cooper, keyboardist and string player Billie Howard, guitarist Devin Davis, and long time sound artist DJ LeDeuce. We recorded it over many months in a basement. There is a cameo by synth genius Felix Kubin on Brother. Mixed by the brilliant Tobias Levin and Hannes Plattmeier in Hamburg, Germany. Some notes on each tune: Recovery - the never ending journey and an addiction unto itself. Disposable Future - amazing new technology gives us unlimited choice delivered through devices we cannot control; is this what we were dreaming of? Good Old Days - nostalgia for the lies of old white men will kill us all. No Grownups - from the perspective of a teenager trapped in a world where all the adults are self-deluded, irresponsible narcissists in terrible clothes. Brother - it's easy to ignore the suffering that surrounds us everyday. On The Nose - grandpa's racism now rebranded as edgy rebellion for the internet generation. Bijou - an ode to a recently closed gay porn theatre in Chicago that was part of the struggle for sexual liberty. Disaster - our masters imagine themselves as heroes when the mob storms the gates and burns the palace to the ground. Young Man's Game - you can't play the same game forever. Always Already - a misreading of Derrida, Marx and Foucault turned into a nihilist anthem. With apologies to Lionel Richie. Reading this sure sounds dire and pretentious - I guess I could have also called the record "Beating A Dead Horse!" But I don't know if I was ever clever or subtle; and frankly, at this point in my life, I don't give a shit. These are our times; I'm trying to deal with it as best as I can.