Hey! Manchester presents Ezra Furman
22 September / 19:30 / More Info / Buy Tickets
Chicago resident Ezra Furman made his debut explorations into the world of record releases when he started The Harpoons at Tufts University back in 2006, but it wasn’t until July of last year that his first solo album surfaced in the UK. A dark chamber-pop expanse focussed around piano balladry and those gravely, smirking vocals, The Year of No Returning was a giant leap for Furman – a leap which continues on his latest album Day of the Dog.
With early singles My Zero and Tell ‘em All to go to Hell all being play listed on BBC 6 Music, and with a five-star Guardian review under his belt, Furman returns to the UK off the back of a sold-out tour to play a string of festivals over the summer including End of the Road and Bestival. After selling out Soup Kitchen earlier in the year, Ezra returns to Manchester – this time to play Band on the Wall.
Recorded with members of his band The Boy-Friends, Furman’s extraordinary second full-length is a stylish, bold, ambitious outing marked by the influence of traditional songwriting giants yet set apart by an undercurrent of deranged, ragged, glory. In Day of the Dogs Furman has created a potent, stark record whose power lies in the way that distinct voice of his – which alternates between odd, tremulous beauty and a startling, guttural visceral nature – delivers a jittering, often jubilant, uninterrupted internal monologue to its audience
‘This Chicago-based singer-songwriter offers a bratty, ragged take on New York Dolls, Spector-era Ramones and E Street Band carnival rock, revealing a gift for crafting freeway-cruisin’ tunes served with an extra helping of roadkill. Like Mac DeMarco, probably his closest peer, Furman draws from well-worn ’50s rock’n’roll tropes and coats them in fuzz’ – NME
‘Please take the five stars not as a statement that this is the best record of 2013, but as a delighted endorsement of a genre classic. Clever, funny, sharp and tuneful – a great rock’n’roll record’ – The Guardian