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Ezra Furman Announces New Album, Releases “Love You So Bad”

Oakland/Chicago rock singer-songwriter Ezra Furman has released “Love You So Bad,” a scrappy, retro-glam first single from his upcoming album Transangelic Exodus. According to Furman, it’s “not a concept album,” which can only mean one thing. Here’s how Furman explained it in a statement:

“The narrative thread is I’m in love with an angel, and a government is after us, and we have to leave home because angels are illegal, as is harbouring angels. The term ‘transangelic’ refers to the fact people become angels because they grow wings. They have an operation, and they’re transformed. And it causes panic because some people think it’s contagious, or it should just be outlawed.”

If that setup resembles the U.S.’s current state of politicized gender panic and anti-trans fear-mongering, it’s no coincidence. Furman, who’s queer and gender-fluid, speaks from experience. “What’s essential is the mood—paranoid, authoritarian, the way certain people are stigmatised. It’s a theme in American life right now, and other so-called democracies,” he continued. The inclusion of the word “trans” in the album’s title was similarly deliberate.

Furman also said he wanted to make the new record feel “more original,” a process that involved multiple demo versions and rearrangements. He’s renamed his backing band for the occasion: formerly known as the Harpoons and then as the Boy-Friends, they’re now called the Visions. Truthfully, none of this information is required to enjoy “Love You So Bad”—it’s just a good song by Ezra Furman, here in fine rummage-sale Elvis Costello form.

Transangelic Exodus is out February 9, 2018 from Bella Union. Furman’s previous full-length was 2015’s Perpetual Motion People. Listen to “Love You So Bad” below.