This musician has gone pro!
A Bushwick synth-pop artist will launch her debut full-length album with two local shows: at Brooklyn Bazaar on May 31 and at Rough Trade on July 11. One-woman outfit Pronoun says that her new record “i’ll show you stronger,” traces her recovery from a painful breakup and her evolution towards facing grander struggles.
“This album is that moment after you break up, that angry frustrated moment when you’re over that ‘I want you back’ feeling. It’s focused more on that frustration and finding yourself again,” said the musician, who goes by Alyse Vellturo offstage.
Vellturo’s first release, a 2016 four-track collection — titled “There’s no one new around you,” after a phrase that dating app Tinder spits out when you have swiped through all nearby prospects — laid bare her pain after a traumatic breakup. It featured vulnerable lyrics underscored by jangly guitar riffs, synth-scapes and a drum machine, some of which she recorded in one sitting.
During that time, Vellturo’s friend suggested the unassuming band name, which she later found fitting for her independent state of mind.
“Pronouns stand alone, and that’s kind of what I felt like what I was doing with the project,” she said. “They can stand apart from everything.”
Her new record, hitting the proverbial shelves on May 24, has a more substantial sound. She has added a drummer and a bassist, which makes for grander tracks, such as the spacious “run” or the anthem “temporary tantrum.” The lyrics reflect her progress from sadness to frustration and anger towards her former partner, but also deal with struggles in the music industry, the current political turmoil, and trying to find strength, according to the musician.
“Once you actually get over it, you realize what other problems you have,” she said. “There’s so many different things, there’s politics, the industry I’m in. I felt used from the past relationship and very poorly treated at the end of it. This music was me trying to pick myself back up.”
She is already working hard on her next release, which she will return to after touring the Eastern half of the country, said Vellturo.
“I already have a ton of tracks for the next album, and will work on that when the tour finishes,” she said.
Pronoun at Brooklyn Bazaar, sharing the bill with Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties, as well as Diva Sweetly [150 Greenpoint Ave., between Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street in Greenpoint. www.bkbaz
At Rough Trade [64 N. Ninth St., between Wythe and Kent avenues in Williamsburg, (718) 388-4111, www.rough
