In the fall, I spoke with Alicia Bognanno for our Year in Music issue about looking back on 10 years of her project Bully and how her methods and artistic philosophy have evolved. One thread that stood out was how her collaborative relationship with JT Daly, who produced her latest LP Lucky for You, has become an important part of the creative process. Another was how she’s inspired by experimenting with style cues and sonic textures to change how she tells stories. Those two threads come together in her new standalone single “Atom Bomb.”
The song shares a lot of emotional territory with Lucky for You. Bognanno reflects on the end of a relationship and considers unanswered questions — now possibly unanswerable, since the moment is gone — about why and how it didn’t work. “I bite my tongue, I don’t want to give in,” she sings. “You’re already gone / And I’ve been living / Like an atom bomb, waiting to be lit / And I don’t know what’s worth forgiving.”
It’s also a spare recording, with just Bognanno’s voice and piano — see her perform it in a video filmed by Bree Marie Fish. In a release, Bognanno notes that earlier versions of the song had a drum machine and an electric guitar and were played at a faster tempo, but Daly convinced her to give it a shot this way.
“I remember saying out loud, ‘Can you believe I'm trusting anybody like this?’” Bognanno writes. “We both started laughing because starting off as someone who used to record, mix and produce their own records to avoid the vulnerability that comes with working out creative ideas in the company of others, it was a huge step for me. That was our first real bonding moment, acknowledging that we were mutually up for trying new things and seeing each other's ideas through before one of us shut it down.”
Find the track on your favorite outlet via this handy link. Bognanno is about to head out on the road supporting Grouplove; there’s no Nashville date on the itinerary, but keep up with her on Instagram for updates.
