BULLY has just announced the new album ‘Lucky For You’ which is out June 2nd on Sub-Pop.

Check out the new single ‘Days Move Slow’ here:

This pulsating lead banger, 'Days Move Slow', was written after the passing of her beloved dog and best friend, Mezzi. Bognanno offers this, “as someone who has spent the majority of my life feeling agonisingly misunderstood, there is no greater gift than experiencing true unconditional love and acceptance. I waited my whole life for the bond and irreplaceable companionship I had with Mezzi. She was my best friend and my only constant through some of the most pivotal moments and phases of my life. I was a stranger to the level of love I now know exists because of Mezzi. Love you forever; I’m lucky for you.”

The 'Days Move Slow' official video was directed by Alex Ross Perry, who shares about this collaboration, “This is my third time collaborating with Alicia, but my first time collaborating with Bully. Having written the original songs for my film Her Smell and performed at the Pavement Museum Tribute Concert "scene" for my forthcoming film on them, I can't believe I finally got to make a Bully video. Right away, it seemed striking to make a piece as stark and measured as possible, not to make a video that replicates the song's sonic energy but to visualise the emotional weight and feelings of loss and grief depicted in the lyrics. Alicia doesn't seem to have been filmed in 16mm black and white before, so it was a no-brainer to give that a try.”

On Friday, June 2nd, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno), will release Lucky For You, her kaleidoscopic new full-length on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The 10-track album combines punk grit, crunchy shoegaze bliss, and an explosive Britpop bop, all mixed in with the classic anthems Bully is known for. Lucky For You was recorded in 2022 at MMK Studios and Alicia's House in Nashville, with help from producer JT Daly and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound.

Lucky For You is Bully’s most close-to-the-bone album yet. It’s an album that’s searing and unmistakably marked by its creator’s experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on—and it’s all soundtracked by Bognanno’s rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that’s impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno’s put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them.

Work on Lucky For You began last year when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. “Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it,” she explains while discussing their recording process together. “If I’m doing something that doesn’t feel natural or right, I’m quick to shut it down. So it was great to work with J.T. because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasise what he thinks is good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant a lot to me.” The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date: “I was freaking out about it at first because taking my time was so new for me. But a few months in, I realised how crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

“With every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,” Bognanno continues. “For this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.” She got her wish: A kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk’s grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for, Lucky For You’s thematic focus also zooms in on grief and loss. The record is largely inspired by Bognanno’s dog Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis.

“Mezzi was my best friend,” she explains. “She made me feel safe and empowered, she showed me that I was worth loving and never judged me or viewed me as a let down. I always felt accepted, understood and so much less alone. Mezzi was living, breathing proof that I was worthy of being loved.” And the oceanic first single 'Days Move Slow' was written shortly after Mezzi’s passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno’s incisive wit even while facing adversity. “There was nothing else I could do except sit down and write.”

'Hard to Love' stomps and lurches with awesome abandon, resembling one of the most sonically left-field tunes Bognanno’s put to tape as Bully; and then there’s the passionate opening track 'All I Do', which kicks in the door Bully-style with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. “I’ve been living in this house for seven years,” she says while discussing her current Nashville abode. “Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it’s still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I’ve moved on from?”

In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. “I’m so overly emotional and sensitive, it’s a blessing and a curse,” she says with a laugh, but there’s no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it’s the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Tour Dates

Apr 15th | North Charleston, SC - High Water Festival

May 20th | Amsterdam, NL - London Calling Paradiso

May 22nd | Manchester, UK - Yes (Pink Room)

May 23rd | Bristol, UK - Thekla

May 25th | Birmingham, UK - Dead Wax

May 26th | London, UK - Moth Club

May 27th | Leeds, UK - Live At Leeds In The Park

Jun 3rd | Lexington, KY - Railbird Festival

Jun 4th | Charlottesville, VA - The Southern

Jun 6th | New York, NY - Racket

Jun 8th | Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway *

Jun 9th | Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia *

Jun 10th | Washington, DC - The Anthem *

Jun 12th | Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live! *

Jun 13th | Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE *

Jun 14th | Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center *

Jun 16th | Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater *

Jun 17th | Asheville, NC - Rabbit Rabbit *

Jun 20th | Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy *

Jun 21st | New Orleans, LA - The Fillmore *

Jun 23rd | Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center *

Jun 24th | Dallas, TX - Southside Ballroom *

Jun 25th | Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater *

Aug 10th | Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

Aug 11th | St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway

Aug 12th | Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck

Aug 14th | Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre

Aug 15th | Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge

Aug 16th | Boise, ID - TBD

Aug 18th | Seattle, WA - Neptune

Aug 19th | Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret

Aug 20th | Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre

Aug 22nd | San Francisco, CA - The Independent

Aug 23rd | Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom

Aug 24th | Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction

Aug 25th | San Diego, CA - Soda Bar

Aug 26th | Tucson, AZ - Club Congress

Aug 28th | Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf

Aug 29th | Oklahoma City, OK - Beer City Music Hall

Aug 31st | Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl

Sep 14th | Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel

Sep 15th | Minneapolis, MN - First Ave

Sep 16th | Milwaukee, WI - X-Ray Arcade

Sep 17th | Detroit, MI - Loving Touch

Sep 19th | Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace

Sep 20th | Albany, NY - Lark Hall

Sep 21st | Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom

Sept 22nd | Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom

Sep 23rd | Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian

Sep 24th | Washington, DC - Black Cat

* = w/ Pixies and Franz Ferdinand

News

BULLY Announces New Album - 'LUCKY FOR YOU'