BØRNS recently moved out of his Airbnb tree house in the backyard of a Hollywood Hills home, and into a real house in the hip Silver Lake area. If you haven’t heard of him, or listened to his charmingly romantic Candy EP, this might not strike you as a significant development. But for those eagerly anticipating the release of the singer-songwriter's first full-length album, Dopamine, out October 16, you might worry that this change of address could take some of the wonder out of his worldview. As magical as Silver Lake is, it’s no whimsical tree house.
"If you look at the EP like dessert before dinner, it's the sugary little [taste], where the LP is the main course,” BØRNS told R29 when we caught up with him over the phone, while he's on the road. “There's more substance to it, some more emotional songs... It's probably more lyrically romantic. Definitely stepped up the lyrical romance."
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Anyone who's heard his enchanting song “10,000 Emerald Pools” knows that the prospect of songs any more emotional or romantic seems nearly impossible to grasp. And that’s exactly what makes us so excited to hear his forthcoming album.
BØRNS, who is spent the summer opening for Charli XCX and Bleachers on their co-headlining tour, tells us that being out in the world was a huge source of inspiration on his album — as were the deadlines imposed by his label, which is keen to get this one out. He's been working on writing and recording it for most of this year, living in the studio in Los Angeles whenever his busy touring schedule offered a break. It’s the kind of schedule most artists would consider punishing, but he calls it “a test of my stamina.”
“It’s almost like running a marathon. It pushes you as a performer and an artist,” he says. For BØRNS, the juxtaposition of tapping into his extroverted, performer side and his introspective, writer side over the course of this year have taught him a lot — as has moving out of the tree house. “Solitude is going to change your writing style, so is living closer to where things are going on with groups of people,” he says. “Now I can walk to a coffee shop, where before there was no one immediately around... Just being on the road with my band and fans, it’s so weird to be completely alone now.”
BØRNS continues on tour through November, with Dopamine out October 16.