Eau De Bonjourno by bernice<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\nShortly after Bernice finished recording the album in late 2019, everything changed, including the meaning of some of their new songs. Take, for instance, \u201cBubble,\u201d a song that Dann initially wrote about being uncomfortable in crowds; in 2020, crowds meant contracting more than just social anxiety. The song\u2019s lyrics – \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed in my personal bubble\/Please step away from my personal bubble\u201d – sound like they could be 2020\u2019s catchphrase. \u201cWhen we wrote that song… it was a lot more related to having mixed feelings about being social and being in crowded spaces and having a lot of friends that have anxiety around that,\u201d says Dann. \u201cNow, that\u2019s not what it\u2019s gonna be about. It\u2019s gonna be about this year\u2019s experience for anyone who listens to it now. I love that \u2013 I love how a song can just change identities when it needs to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of Dann\u2019s lyric writing contains an innate universality, allowing the song to mold its meaning to the psyche of whoever’s listening. This elasticity is mimicked in the band\u2019s instrumentation — a lush orchestra of experimental synths following syncopated rhythms. And while Dann\u2019s crystal voice and intuitive melodies contain traces of R&B and pop, the band\u2019s heavy jazz influence is evident in the improvisational nature of the music. This \u201cplay it as it comes\u201d disposition is something Dann comes back to again and again in the record. Mindfulness and self-acceptance play a central role in this record – and in her everyday life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On \u201cIt\u2019s Me, Robin,\u201d Dann presents the idea that just being <\/em>is enough. And in a time when so many of our lives have been put on pause, this idea is more than welcome. The song starts out with an unapologetic introduction: \u201cIt\u2019s me Robin\/You don\u2019t really know me\/I thought if I just expressed this\/You might just let me be me and accept that\/I\u2019m here, still here\/I am really here.\u201d In this song, Dann is simply and elegantly stating that a person is not a list of their accomplishments, social connections or financial assets, that being yourself and being at peace with who that person is is as good a vocation as any. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with [the idea of] some lives having more or less value than other lives,\u201d explains Dann. \u201cIt\u2019s like, am I gonna accept myself just for who I am no matter what I do? Or am I gonna continuously try to better myself and do more for my community? And can you live with both somehow? I feel like I\u2019m confronting that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThese existential questions are ones that seem to have been screamed into the ether for millions of years, and although Dann is still searching for the answers herself, she gives such succinct advice on that it feels she\u2019s on the right track: \u201cGive yourself the same love you receive, believe in your inner value,\u201d she concludes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dann\u2019s constant reminders to find worth from within and immerse yourself in the moment are therapeutic in nature, but even more so when sung in her translucent, soothing falsetto. Especially on \u201cLone Swan,\u201d which was inspired by a swan who would follow her around Toronto Island. Dann explains that swans are creatures of wonder to her – that one day, when swans are extinct, humans will look back in disbelief that we shared the planet with them. \u201cSwans are interesting to me because they have this horrible reputation, but you see them and you\u2019re like, \u2018You are not of this world,\u2019\u201d says Dann. \u201cLike, how do people see swans and just accept that they\u2019re real? I see a swan and I\u2019m like, that\u2019s an alien, like that is coming from another planet, it\u2019s not a bird.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simple, but awe-inspiring moments like this throughout Eau De Bonjourno <\/em>remind the listener not to take our surroundings for granted, but not to take them too seriously either. This balance of playfulness, self-awareness and intention is what makes Bernice\u2019s music so pleasant to listen to, and even heal to. Maybe, one day, we\u2019ll be able to look back on pandemic times the way Dann predicts our predecessors will look at swans – in shock and awe that they ever existed.\u00a0Until then, I suggest taking a page from Dann\u2019s book on living: \u201cIf I did nothing but love myself and love one other person, that\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nFollow Bernice on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> for ongoing updates.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a small island just outside of Toronto in the summer of 2019, Robin Dann and her band, Bernice, unknowingly made a record that would be extremely relevant to the unforeseeable year ahead. On Eau De Bonjourno, Bernice covers themes of isolation, disconnecting self-worth from productivity and escaping into the imagination. Dann and her bandmates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":41366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[573,305,566],"tags":[11871,7966,974,2522],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Roll_1318_PHOTO-CREDIT_-COLIN-MEDLEY-scaled-e1615241263269.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41499,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41365\/revisions\/41499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}