Art-Folk Singer-Songwriter Bonniesongs Releases Ghoulish New Single “Frank”

Sydney’s rising art-folk talent Bonniesongs has released the third single off her debut album, Energetic Mind. Bonniesongs, aka Bonnie Stewart, gained buzz for her multi-instrumental virtuosity—she can play percussion and the mandolin, plus she sings—and off-kilter, dreamlike approach to her genre. Her 2018 EP Strings, for example, bridges the gap between experimental classical and folk with atonal violin runs, hushed mandolin strums and instrumental sections more Messiaen than Bob Dylan.

Stewart’s latest release, “Frank,” plays it more old-school—1818, to be precise, the release year of Mary Shelley’s sci-fi horror classic Frankenstein. Over sharply plucked strings, Steward spins out the familiar yarn of the not-quite-human. Two minutes in, she eventually crumbles into the tortured chant of “I’m already a monster,” and that epiphany motivates the track’s pivot into wailing distortion, rumbling cello chords and a stomping folk-rock backbeat. “Why should the Devil have all the good tunes,” goes an apocryphal line attributed to Martin Luther, and the ghoulish “Frank” is sure to add a tally on Satan’s scorecard.

Listen to “Frank” below. Energetic Mind is out Sept. 6 on Small Pond Records. Check out the art and tracklist for the album further down.