For Your Consideration: Ezra Furman’s Twelve Nudes as Multifaceted Depiction of What It’s Like to Be Trans

This piece was originally published as part of the Indieheads forums’ annual Album of the Year write-up series, where users write about their favorite albums from the year that passed, on December 14, 2019. In this piece, Co-Editor Nat talks about their personal link to local Boston-area musician Ezra Furman‘s thunderous Twelve Nudes and how it resonated with her experience living as a nonbinary transgender person.

PHOTOS + REVIEW: Ezra Furman brings “a night of pain and a night of celebration” to The Sinclair, with support from OMNI

Coming to the stage smiling and waving while holding an orange he would later peel onstage, Ezra Furman took his position behind the mic at the center as the lighting shifted, the dim fill lighting changing to sheer spotlights illuminating the whole stage for the entirety of the set. As Ezra first addressed the crowd after his band propelled into a killer opening 1-2 of “Cherry Lane” and “I Wanna Destroy Myself,” the meaning behind this lighting design became exceedingly clear: in times shrouded by darkness, Furman aims for his show to be a beacon of light.

REVIEW: Ezra Furman, Anna Burch at Great Scott

The title to the first song of Ezra Furman’s set this month at Allston’s Great Scott set the perfect tone for his stage presence throughout the evening: “Come Here Get Away From Me.” Touring for his excellent recent album Transangelic Exodus, Furman transformed an already poetic and impassioned collection of songs detailing a “queer outlaw saga” into a performance full of even more fervor than the recordings. From the very beginning of the set, Furman laced his more melodic leanings with ear-shattering screams, putting as much emotion possible into the most heart-rending moments of his music. Even as his lyrics skewed poignantly human, Ezra Furman kept infusing their delivery with bite.

March 2018: Live Music Radar – 5 Boston Shows You Need to Check Out This Month

In a new feature for Odd Blue Fruit, we picked some of the shows we’re most excited about in the month to come and talked about why we’re hyped.