LP – Basia Bulat – Basia’s Palace

1LP

“Basia’s Palace” got its start in 2022. A new home, a new family, a pause: the singer was finally finding time to hear her own thoughts, to think about old stories, to boot up her Nintendo to play Dragon Warrior 4. The album that emerged from this – that started in dawn-kissed synth instrumentals, lyrics scribbled down in a Hayao Miyazaki notebook – is the softest and most questing of Basia Bulat’s career.

“Basia’s Palace” is like a time-travel score, with Bulat as Chrono Trigger’s intrepid adventurer, going back into the past to shape the events of the future. After years of releasing records where live performance came first, the singer-songwriter wanted to express herself in a completely different way, composing with MIDI instead of piano/guitar. Reuniting with co-producer Mark Lawson, she found herself moving through a dreamworld of whispers, synths, early Eurovision tunes – and her great uncles gauzy Maryla Rodowicz and Marek Grechuta LPs. Throughout, Bulat pays tribute to the magic of creation and the spellwork of performance.