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Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, YouTuber, poet and satirist Bossi joins Al for a rare double album deep dive, as she talks about Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 release The River. Bossi discusses her Springsteen fandom, which dates back to her childhood, and she explains why The River has been one of her favorite albums for decades. She explores the prominent themes of The River and illustrates how many of those themes are present in her own work, particularly on her latest album Tell All the Other Girls. Bossi also talks about her Finishing School for Difficult Women video series and how it developed from its beginnings as a part of the rollout for Tell All the Other Girls.

You can explore the many facets of Bossi’s work in the following places:

www.iambossi.com

iambossi.bandcamp.com

www.houseofbossi.com

Instagram and TikTok: @iambossiofficial

Substack and YouTube: @iambossi

Be sure to sign up for the YMAAA Newsletter at youmealbum.ghost.io.

To keep up with You, Me and An Album, please give the show a follow on Instagram at @youmealbum.

Excerpts from episodes are now available on YouTube at @YouMeAndAnAlbum. Please consider subscribing and liking!

Al has put a pause on publishing new Bonus Tracks episodes, but you can listen to the past ones at the You, Me and An Album Patreon for $1/month. Just go to www.patreon.com/youmealbum.

1:19 Bossi’s introduction

2:09 Bossi is a big believer in the album format

4:21 Bossi’s father was instrumental to her Springsteen fandom

6:45 Bossi explains how a Springsteen concert changed her life

11:05 Bossi talks about why “The Price You Pay” is a special song for her

16:22 “Two Hearts” is another track where Springsteen explores the theme of “keeping the spark alive”

17:43 Bossi explains how The River is a hopeful album, despite its many bleak moments

21:35 Bossi notes the parallels between the themes on The River and in her own music

25:25 Al and Bossi talk about the masculinity of Springsteen’s songs and image

31:09 Al thinks The River should be a single album

33:23 Bossi talks about an ongoing emotional connection she has with one of Springsteen’s songs

35:52 Bossi highlights some of her favorite tracks from the second half of the album

40:23 Bossi talks about the role of memory in Springsteen’s songs as well as in hers

45:53 Bossi and Al contrast the feel of the two discs of the album

48:10 Bossi and Al note the similarities in the sequencing between The River and Tell All the Other Girls

52:37 Bossi explains why she didn’t end Tell All the Other Girls with “Hold On”

55:43 Bossi admires how Springsteen sometimes sets heavy lyrics to upbeat music

58:25 Bossi explains how her Finishing School videos grew out of her process of rolling out Tell All the Other Girls

1:06:13 Bossi’s Finishing School character had its roots in some of her earlier performances

1:07:50 Bossi talks about her intent in creating the Finishing School videos and Substack

1:13:11 Bossi discusses the House of Bossi

1:16:39 Bossi explains why she chose “Bossi” as her artist name

Outro music is from “Run Baby Run” by Bossi.

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For this week’s album deep dive, Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based musician, songwriter and video game designer Rafael Melo (who records and performs as Late Again) chose Arthur Verocai’s 1972 self-titled album. Rafael talks about how he first came across Verocai’s music and why he connected with this album instantly. He also delves into why he takes inspiration from Verocai’s music and career and how he came to collaborate with the Brazilian maestro on the song “People Pleasers.” Rafael discusses his soon-to-be-released EP I Dreamt I Was Awake (out September 4) and the upcoming debut Late Again album.

There are lots of places online where you can check out Late Again and follow Rafael…

Website: www.imlateagain.com

Bandcamp: imlateagain.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: @lateagainsta

YouTube: @reallylateagain

Spotify: Late Again

TikTok: @reallylateagain

Soundcloud: @reallylateagain

Be sure to sign up for the YMAAA Newsletter at youmealbum.ghost.io.

To keep up with You, Me and An Album, please give the show a follow on Instagram at @youmealbum.

Excerpts from episodes are now available on YouTube at @YouMeAndAnAlbum. Please consider subscribing and liking!

Al has put a pause on publishing new Bonus Tracks episodes, but you can listen to the past ones at the You, Me and An Album Patreon for $1/month. Just go to www.patreon.com/youmealbum.

1:15 Rafael’s introduction

2:56 Al explains why his reaction to the album left him feeling a little stupid

4:20 Rafael talks about how he first got exposed to Arthur Verocai

8:51 Rafael hears Verocai’s voice through his arrangements

10:41 Rafael considers why Verocai’s music wasn’t discovered by many until decades after being released

14:13 Al and Rafael note the album’s eclecticism

17:56 Discovering Verocai was part of a larger exploration of Brazilian music for Rafael

21:33 Rafael explains how his collaboration with Verocai happened

27:04 Al found a surprise in the album’s credits

29:49 Rafael and Al appreciate Verocai’s vocals

31:26 Rafael picks his favorite tracks from the album

35:42 Al and Rafael discuss how “Na Boca do Sol” was sampled by several artists

37:42 Rafael and Al sort out their mixed feelings about sampling

39:49 Rafael finds inspiration in Verocai’s story

42:41 Rafael talks about the various musical elements in I Dreamt I Was Awake

46:28 Rafael discusses some songwriting challenges he gave himself

47:55 Rafael explains why he has not released a full album yet

51:25 Rafael provides an update on the upcoming Late Again album

52:49 Rafael talks about the many facets of his professional life

55:40 Rafael discusses his upcoming tour

Outro music is from “Crazy or Stupid” by Late Again.

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This week’s guest is Portland-based singer, songwriter, author, podcaster, educator and visual artist Laura Veirs, and she chose the 2021 release Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra for her album deep dive. Laura talks about her recent explorations of EDM and how that led her to listening to Floating Points and, ultimately, to Promises. She discusses the elements of Promises that make it an enthralling listening experience for her, as well as how the album has helped to her to reconnect to her own music. That reconnection resulted in the making of Temple Songs (released Aug. 14), and Laura delves into her process of writing and recording songs for the album.

There are many ways to keep up with Laura online!

lauraveirs.com

@lauraveirs on Instagram, Facebook and X

@_lauraveirs_ on Tiktok

@RavenMarchingBandLauraVeirs on YouTube

Be sure to sign up for the YMAAA Newsletter at youmealbum.ghost.io.

To keep up with You, Me and An Album, please give the show a follow on Instagram at @youmealbum.

Excerpts from episodes are now available on YouTube at @YouMeAndAnAlbum. Please consider subscribing and liking!

Al has put a pause on publishing new Bonus Tracks episodes, but you can listen to the past ones at the You, Me and An Album Patreon for $1/month. Just go to www.patreon.com/youmealbum.

1:22 Laura’s introduction

2:38 Laura discovered Promises by way of Floating Points’ EDM work

5:06 Laura was also drawn to the album due to her interest in Pharoah Sanders

7:45 Laura talks about the relationship between Sam Shepherd and Sanders

9:32 Laura was impressed by the use of silence and human noises on Promises

14:16 Laura hears some elements of EDM in Promises

17:50 Laura revisits the moment when she decided to pick this album

19:39 Listening to the album sparked a greater interest in Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders

21:53 Promises helped Laura to reconnect with music after a period of burnout

25:00 Laura talks about how she wound up making Temple Songs

27:43 Laura focused on her performances and not on gear when making her album

32:18 Laura explains why she didn’t mix Temple Songs

36:27 Laura talks about the “No Masters” theme of Temple Songs and why she decided not to make that the name of the album

44:41 Laura discusses the upcoming reissued version of the case/lang/veirs album

47:57 Laura talks about her videos and upcoming tour dates

Outro music is from “Arc Still Bends” by Laura Veirs.

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