For his latest album, Twelve Nudes, Ezra Furman revisited his punk-rock roots. In doing so, he channelled all his energy into a collection of songs that confront the issues of living in a broken society. He found the experience both liberating and cathartic. Huw Baines listens to his rallying cry
Furman acknowledges punk rocker Jay Reatard and Canadian poet Anne Carson as the album’s spiritual heroes
Way back in the mid-90s, Joe Strummer sent a fax containing his thoughts on Bruce Springsteen to a filmmaker who was assembling a documentary about New Jersey’s favourite son. The legendary Clash frontman’s excitement popped in all caps as he described the liberating power of the Boss’s music for those who woke each day under slate grey British skies. “Just when you need some spirit and some proof that the big wide world exists, the DJ puts on Racing In The Street and life seems worth living again,” he wrote. “Life seems to be in Cinemascope again.”