Album Review: Beau Stevens – Boil ur iPhone

The title of the new album by California-based musician Beau Stevens will inspire a laugh or two, maybe a sigh of recognition, but don’t let it distract you from the music.

Stevens cites artists like John Mayer, Elton John, and The Beatles as among his main musical influences, and on the album’s first track, Somber Boy, there’s nods to classic rock sounds, but is drawn towards an edge, and an emotional openness, that borders on a grunge-like energy in its tale of lingering loss.   

It’s a quality that continues on Your Name, a track that nods to folk in terms of the arrangement, yet the vocals have a raw and vibrant presence that acts with and against the guitar and drums most notably, like furious waves crashing against an immovable shoreline.

The Beatles are a recurring, though not dominant, theme in the album, most often in its folk-leaning passages and the shifting moods in the instrumentation and vocal presence, often expressing more than words can say.

The straight-up rock of Safe and Sound has some tricks up its sleeve, as it plays with perspectives and emotions, the lyrics trending towards a tentative bleakness that is reinforced by the post-punk signatures of the guitar. 

The emotional centre of the album, for me, is Forgetful, putting me in mind of grunge and post-hardcore, but spiritually, not sonically. Boil ur iPhone has lyrical echoes of 70s singer-songwriters that threaded their sound from folk and rock but brings them to the listener in a modern way, honest, open, and ardent in its intent.

You can hear Boil ur iPhone on Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music. For gig news and other listening options for his music, check out Beau Stevens on Instagram.