Boyhood – A Grand Time
Boyhood signs to Hand Drawn Dracula and releases the new song “A Grand Time.”
Boyhood is the bedroom-pop project of Caylie Runciman, of rural Ontario. On her latest single, “A Grand Time,” she relays thoughts about the dynamic of a relationship between a young person and a much older man, “I was just a kid, hanging up pictures with electrical tape,” reflecting the Boyhood ethos: beguiling DIY anthems, strung up with sideways childhood wonder, relatable and alien all at once. Through tough-kid guitar grit, vintage synths, and deadpan verses, Boyhood’s music distills the strange experience of growing up.
Since debuting Boyhood in Ottawa’s punk scene, Runciman has released a sequence of lauded albums and appeared at festivals across North America (Sled Island, NXNE, Pop Montreal). Boyhood’s 2022 record, My Dread, was written, performed, produced and engineered by Runciman. It marked her most painstaking musical creation to date – one that mirrored her introduction to motherhood. Mixed by Kenny Gilmore (Julia Holter, Weyes Blood), it was praised as “a moving collection of perfect pop songs that feel classic, lived-in and raw” (Gorilla vs. Bear).
As she began working on the latest, forthcoming Boyhood album (out on Hand Drawn Dracula), Runciman was “imploding with life changes and experiencing a real magical rebirth through the chaos.” In regular retreats from the chaos, she dove deep into these changes, recording most of this record on her bed, “surrounded by old drum machines and a crappy old Casio.” Playing with tape delay, and matching choppy, cycling soundscapes with her wry, indelible lyrics, a further dimension of Boyhood was discovered. As Runciman puts it, “I really found myself again with this record.”
You can hear Runciman’s process perfectly in the single “A Grand Time,” a stilted reflection on adolescence. You’re plunged into your own messed-up feelings of change and rebirth as you hear her insistent voice slur, “I was just a kid / I’d throw around my flip phone / on a long walk home / through a construction zone.” Like Cate Le Bon or Aldous Harding, Runciman’s words feel playfully circumspect, meandering alongside sideways guitar licks and pulsing bass. “A Grand Time” is accompanied by a Lynchian black and white music video (dir. Monika Kraska) aptly showcasing Runciman in a world devoid of other people; she wanders through suburbs, stands in an empty living room, and makes self-reflection look and feel perfectly askew.
Like a candy shop in a seedy part of town, Boyhood songs are raw, with equal parts ecstasy and heartbreak. They are a black-magic invitation: age, reflect, and be reborn.
Upcoming Performances:
June 23 – Albany, NY – Tummy Rub Records
June 24 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair w/ Of Montreal
June 25 – Philadelphia, PA – Dead Birds
June 26 – NYC – House Show
June 27 – Burlington, VT – Radio Bean
July 25 – Toronto – Dina’s Tavern
July 27 – Ottawa – Irene’s
July 28 – Mtl – Sala Rossa
July 30 – Fredericton – Bellwether
July 31 – Sackville – Sappyfest
#poodleheaded