<p><a href="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-2-4x5-1711739097994.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23901" src="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-2-4x5-1711739097994.jpeg" alt="" width="4089" height="3271" /></a>Ballsy has just released their debut EP titled &#8220;Bisou&#8221; which fuses the genres of pop-punk, indie rock, grunge, and pop music. The EP features dreamy lead guitars, catchy vocal melodies, and coming of age themes about self-empowerment, self-realization, love, climate change, and religion. Ballsy writes emotional songs about the topics that feel close to her heart. The production is top-notch throughout, while the vocal deliveries and lyrics tend to be raw and honest. The record has a lot of soul, unlike most popular music now. Ballsy is the solo project of Isabelle Banos, the synth-bassist of Caveboy, who cites her musical influences as The Cranberries, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alvvays, Nirvana.</p>
<p><em><strong>This EP was proudly created by women and gender expansive folks &#8211; from songwriting, to recording, to production, to mixing and mastering, and even the artwork.</strong></em></p>
<p>Bisou starts off strong with &#8220;Be Your Baby,&#8221; a co-write between Ballsy and Mint Simon. The phase-shifter effected guitars, cheery synthesizers, and floating vocal melody give the song a nostalgic feel from start to finish. The song is made complete with a distorted guitar solo and a catchy hook vocal melody. This song was even featured in the new spider-verse movie, Madame Web, which was Ballsy&#8217;s first ever sync placement!</p>
<blockquote><p><em>“This was my first collaboration with my writing partner in crime Mint Simon for my own solo project. They helped me uncover and move through some tough feelings around my dysfunctional upbringing, while also encouraging me to explore and discover my sound. &#8211; Ballsy </em></p></blockquote>
<p>After the bright-sounding vibes on &#8220;Be Your Baby,&#8221; we move onto another side of Ballsy, a more angsty and rebellious side. &#8220;Joe Millionaire&#8221; is an anthem about climate change, global warming, and the environmental emergency that has already started to affect us all. The song contains a seriously contagious hook melody that will surely get stuck in your head. This is a great song for Earth Day, coming up on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.</p>
<p><a href="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-3-carree-1711739094536.jpeg"><img class=" wp-image-23903 alignright" src="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-3-carree-1711739094536.jpeg" alt="" width="716" height="716" /></a></p>
<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;Joe Millionaire&#8221; was super fun [to record] because the whole band is featured on it. All those group vocals throughout the song are the original demo recordings from our songwriting retreat. I love their raw energy and it&#8217;s always so great to have your friends be part of what you&#8217;re creating. &#8211; Ballsy </em></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;Person&#8221; is the most emotional sounding song on the record. It&#8217;s raw and honest throughout. Ballsy doesn&#8217;t shy away from wearing her heart on her sleeve. The vocals are delivered in a more moody style than the previous song on the EP, staying low toned during the verses, and more bright during the catchy choruses. She sings: <em>&#8220;You&#8217;re just a person, you&#8217;re just trying to figure it out like me.&#8221; </em>Ballsy is totally right! Isn&#8217;t that what we are all doing? Just trying to figure it all out&#8230; Maybe this realization will help people be more compassion to each other. The song has a great space for reflection during the explosive electric guitar solo, where the lyrics take a rest, and the music get to shine.</p>
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<p class="p1">&#8220;Person&#8221; &#8211; it&#8217;s the most personal, the most cathartic, a very obvious &#8220;fuck you&#8221;, and I like the way it swims between the soft and intimate verses into the explosive anthemic choruses. <i>&#8220;Person&#8221; took almost 2 years to finish. It was one of the first ideas I came up with for my solo project and wasn&#8217;t sure where to go with it, so I shelved it many times. I built it up, tore it down, and reconstructed it repeatedly before realizing its original iteration was the best and most authentic version. I had to work on other songs to truly find my sound and then come back to it to help bring it into the sonic world of the EP. It was a worthwhile journey for sure. &#8211; Ballsy </i></p>
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<p>&#8220;Holy Water&#8221; explores the journey of self-discovery and individuality, devoid of religious affiliation. Its lyrics delve into disillusionment with organized religion, highlighting the negative impacts of institutionalized faith on many individuals and even the world. Yet ultimately, the lyrics convey a message of personal empowerment and individualism. The quick paced drums and dreamy electric guitars are a great backdrop to the vocal delivery that stays captivating from start to finish.</p>
<p>The next song is &#8220;Wannabe&#8221; which is one of my personal favorite songs on the record! It&#8217;s just so dreamy, how could anyone not love this song? &#8220;Wannabe&#8221; is the first love song that Ballsy ever penned. Writing the song actually confirmed her feelings for the person, feelings she didn&#8217;t know she was experiencing until she wrote this deeply magical song. This is the perfect love song, that bleeds romance and the gives the energy of falling in love with someone.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;Eulogy&#8221; is the big one for me, the closer. It brings together all the previous songs of the EP as a final message to myself and whoever is listening. It&#8217;s a reminder for how I want to live my life; with purpose and love, and zero fucks given.</em> <em>I’m not the only one who wonders what their funeral will be like right?! During an amazing songwriting retreat with my closest friends and bandmates, the idea of writing about my funeral came to me and they were so supportive of helping me work through some interesting feelings about life, death, friendship and not waiting until it’s too late to do and say the stuff that really makes life worth living. &#8211; Ballsy </em></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-7-4x5-1711739090625.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23904" src="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ballsy-7-4x5-1711739090625.jpeg" alt="" width="2738" height="3422" /></a></p>
<p>This final song on the EP is the perfect closer. Ballsy imagines her future funeral, which makes her realize that living in the moment is what she must do while she is here. She&#8217;s thinking about the friendships she currently has and the type of friendships that she wants. Although this song is about the end of life, it really feels more like a coming of age track. It&#8217;s filled with self realization and maturity.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>“This is the record I dreamed of making when I was a lonely teenager teaching myself Green Day covers on my first guitar alone in my bedroom. It’s simple, it’s raw, and it’s filled with imperfections that I would have been too scared to share even just a couple of years ago. I don’t care anymore. This is something I made, from scratch, for me, and I’m really proud of it.” &#8211; Ballsy </strong></em></p></blockquote>
<p>Enjoy the EP Bisou&#8221; by Ballsy on Spotify now:</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.submithub.com/m/u/ryancassatareviews">Written by Ryan Cassata</a></p>