When Bully announced their latest single was called "Atom Bomb," it wasn't crazy to expect a killer guitar anthem with powerful hooks and a raging chorus that would naturally fit with the band's alt-rock inspired catalogue. Instead, Alicia Bognanno has pulled a fast one on us. Switching up her grunge-loaded rocking tunes for a powerful, piano-driven ballad was one of the last things I expected as a follow-up to last year's ripping Lucky for You, but even with the curveball move, "Atom Bomb" is still an excellent new song that shows the wide, dynamic range of Bognanno's songwriting capabilities. It's a bold and brave move for an artist that has really embraced her previous sound, but the vulnerability that comes with such left-hand turns is part of what making art is all about and Alicia has proven that escaping her comfort zone can still yield high-quality results. When speaking about the track, she remarked:
The song was originally recorded with a drum machine and electric guitar; it was also quite a bit faster. When I played the demo for JT Daly (producer), he had the idea of moving it to the piano. I remember saying out loud, "Can you believe I’m trusting anybody like this?" 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.
Hopefully we'll hear more from Bognanno soon, although Lucky for You is still plenty fresh, but it's great to hear more from her already and exciting to see where the band goes next.
"Atom Bomb" is out now.
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