Song You Need: Bill Nace wades into calmer waters
“Boil First” is the lead single from Nace’s newly announced November LP, Through A Room.
Ryan Collerd
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Bill Nace has been chasing the preternatural with his six-string for the better part of his life, but usually — publicly, at least — as a sideman or collaborator. He’s best known for being half of the noise duo Body/Head, where his hellacious scratchings echo opposite those of Kim Gordon. But 2020’s Both, his second studio LP and his Drag City debut, brought him new recognition as a towering soloist.
Today, he’s returned with “Boil First,” the lead single from his newly announced follow-up to that record. Through A Room is due out November 11, and if the new track is any indication, it will be an immersive, mind-warping experience.
On “Boil First,” Nace enters alone but cloaked in reverb and delay that compound exponentially to create the type of cascading overtones intrinsic to his earlier work. Instead of assaulting the ears as he has in the past, though, he uses his old tricks to conjure lush, gorgeous new harmonies that push his sound past experimental subgenre signifiers and into an altogether more spiritual realm.
Watch Laurie Collyer’s abstract visual treatment for “Boil First” below.