Singer-songwriter Ezra Furman has been creating rock and roll tunes since 2008, originally being a part of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons before moving on to sing solo. Furman has achieved critical acclaim and worldwide recognition after recording the soundtrack for the hit Netflix original series Sex Education, but her work extends past the tracks written for the show. On August 26, 2022, she released her sixth studio album All Of Us Flames, under ANTI- Records, a collection of modern American rock songs that are a sign of a new age of the genre.
All Of Us Flames takes us on a trip with the opening song “Train Comes Through”, the track our mode of transportation into the rest of the album. Furman’s ingenious songwriting shines through immediately as we hear something reminiscent of an opening speech before a revolution. She then channels more punk-rock sounds in the next song “Throne” which keeps the chanting, mantra-like theme.
The third song, “Dressed In Black” is classic Ezra Furman: heavy guitar notes, stunning lyrics, and beats that sound like a song from the 70s. She sings a coming-of-age melody in “And your lips don’t move, but I can hear you talk to me/ And I watch your haunted eyes/ As they look out at the world/ The world that never cared at all for us.”
For decades, rock and roll has been used as a way for artists to speak their truth and fight for change, and that’s no better seen than in songs like “Book Of Our Names” and “Lilac And Black”. In the former, Furman takes a look at the relationship between Judaism and trans people. In a tweet, she wrote, “I noticed that the book of the Bible called Exodus in English, the one where the Hebrews escape slavery in Egypt, is called the Book of Names in Hebrew. And I started to think that the act of saying names out loud, of seeing individuals in their full irreplaceable uniqueness, holds the seed of true liberation.” The song “Lilac And Black” can only be described as a queer anthem, an honest look at Ezra’s life as a trans woman in the world. “Tonight, tonight I’m dreaming of my queer girl gang/ We who walk this deadly path/ And the city that tries to kill us each night.”
“Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club”, the eighth piece on the 12-track album, is a direct reference to one of the characters in The Breakfast Club, but in a way never before heard. Furman sings a simple song, with a slow guitar strum, about connecting to the character and longing to be her: “I watch her flicker on my TV/ The teenage girl I never got to be.” Things speed up though in the following song, “Poor Girl A Long Way From Heaven”, which still showcases her glorious writing while managing to sound like something that would play during a party montage scene in a movie.
All Of Us Flames closes with “Come Close”, a soft, reflective end that’s a look back on Furman’s possible former loves, and her resounding message that there’s still work to be done to support the queer community. “The desperate ones don’t disappear/ We’re all still hanging around/ And what do your rainbows do? What do your bright flags do? What do your rainbows do here on the ground?”
Ezra Furman’s new album is nothing short but a new wave of Americana; a complete collection of songs reminiscent to those of Bob Dylan, but written to represent our modern age and shed light on the important battles we need to take part in. To celebrate her new protest album, Furman is going on tour in both North America and Europe, spreading love and acceptance everywhere she goes.
Ezra Furman 2022 North America TOUR DATES
9/12 – Montreal, CA – La Sala Rossa
9/13 – Toronto, CA – Rec Room
9/14 – Detroit, MI – The Loving Touch
9/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr Small’s
9/17 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
9/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
9/19 – Providence, RI – Fete Ballroom
9/20 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
9/21 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
9/22 – Dover, DE – Firefly Festival
Ezra Furman 2022 Europe TOUR DATES
10/31 – Bruges, BE – Cactus Club
11/1 – Paris, FR – Le Trabendo
11/2 – Utrecht, NL – TivoliVrendenburg
11/3 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefaehrlich
11/5 – Cologne, DE – Kulturkirche
11/6 – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kruezberg
11/7 – Prague, CZ – Roxy
11/8 – Vienna, AT – Arena Wien
11/9 – Graz, AT – Dom Im Berg
11/10 – Leipzig, DE – Transcentury Update Festival
11/12 – Fribourg, CH – Fri-Son
11/13 – Munich, DE – Freiheitshalle
11/14 – Frankfurt, DE – Zoom
11/16 – Brighton, GB – St Georges Church
11/17 – London, GB – The Roundhouse
11/19 – Birmingham, GB – The Mill
11/20 – Glasgow, GB – QMU
11/21 – Manchester, GB – O2 Ritz