BODEGA Share New Single “Literary World”

In the midst of a tour of Spain previewing their upcoming album, All Inside Aquarium, New York City quintet BODEGA today share their philosophical yet infectious fourth single, “Literary World”. 

With it the band announce a special week-long (October 6th to 13th) art installation at the Millennium Film Workshop in Bushwick, Brooklyn, featuring the All Inside Aquarium album art sculpture, plus additional works from BODEGA percussionist/vocalist Nikki Belfiglio, along with works from the local artists who helped in the production of the piece.

BODEGA will host various events at the gallery throughout the week, including a private view, film screening and closing party, as well as offering the public an opportunity to hear the record in full prior to its release. These events will be revealed directly to the band’s mailing list and you can sign up HERE to hear more first.

All Inside Aquarium, set to arrive October 9th via Chrysalis, was produced by Matt Peel (Yard Act, Eagulls) at the Nave, his studio set up in a deconsecrated church in Leeds, and mixed in Brighton with Theo Verney (English Teacher, Lime Garden).

All Inside Aquarium is available for pre-order, with a Dinked exclusive featuring 7” single and Cloudy Blue vinyl, along with a limited Bandcamp exclusive edition featuring hand-painted alt artwork, by Nikki Belfiglio.

Pre-order All Inside Aquarium

BODEGA follow their Spanish dates with sold out London and Paris performances and recently shared news of a full UK tour in support of the record this November. All tour dates are listed further down, with tickets on sale now.

Regarding “Literary World,” BODEGA guitarist and vocalist Ben Hozie offered, “Regardless of neoliberal propaganda, I believe in the dignity of the artist. I also believe it is the duty of an artist to emerge new ways of thinking and being, which extends far beyond ideological didacticism. This isn’t an argument for apolitical art —> The modern artist should work alongside the rising global political consciousness (brought about by new tech and the revelation of extreme injustice) not only through practical action (such as sharing information or raising money with their audience) but through empathetic honest works that imagine alternative modalities.”

“I never thought of us as a post-punk band,” stresses Hozie. “I just thought of us as a conceptual rock band.” This might come as a surprise to those who’ve been following the band over the last several years. BODEGA’s previous albums — 2018’s Endless Scroll, 2022’s Broken Equipment, and 2024’s Our Brand Could Be Your Life — drew well-earned comparisons to post-punk icons like Talking Heads, the B-52s, Devo, and Sonic Youth. “Post-punk is conceptual punk, so that lent itself to our thing early on,” says Hozie, “but at the end of the day, it’s about our songwriting.”

With All Inside Aquarium, BODEGA stray further from their perceived post-punk origins. BODEGA’s goal was, “Let’s go back to melodic tunes, let’s be more of a proper rock band,” Hozie explains. Sonically, the band aimed for “this late ‘80s/early ‘90s Stone Roses-meets-Jane’s Addiction thing, with more riffing and guitar solos.”

The latter, in particular, were a major influence (Jane’s Addiction have been Hozie’s favourite band since high school), and there is indeed a palpable “Lollapalooza ‘91 Main Stage” vibe to the proceedings. “We were aiming at something larger, warmer, watery, and metaphysical, inspired by the optimistic alt rock of our half-remembered youth,” he notes.

“The way that we listen to music is so eclectic, and that’s how we approached this album too,” says Belfiglio. “You can have a hardcore song next to a folk song, because there’s no punks on the corner waiting to beat you up.” To wit, the album includes BODEGA’s radical reinvention of Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train,” the title track from his unfairly maligned 1979 album of the same name. Hozie cites the glammy, Navarro-esque solo on that track as one of his favourite moments on the album.

Where the band’s earlier material took a more explicitly sociopolitical bent, Hozie and Belfiglio’s writing on All Inside Aquarium is deliberately less didactic and more concerned with poetics.

For Hozie, “If there’s one thesis song, it would be ‘Literary World.’ It’s kind of a playful tune, but it’s really about how what we’re lacking is not political consciousness – because one of the most amazing things post-2016 is that the whole world has developed a political consciousness – but literary or poetic consciousness. A literary perspective is an empathetic one, because if you’re a novelist, you have to understand the thinking of all of your characters, even if they’re the most egregious people.” The album’s first single, “Pick up the Check,” exemplifies this approach.

BODEGA’s newfound focus on poetics also resulted in some of the most personal material to date. “I had this epiphany that on earlier LP’s, I thought of my rock tunes and my ballads as two separate categories. I realized that I mostly only delved into personal material on ballads,” Hozie says, “So I was like, ‘Why couldn’t I write something emotionally direct and personal in a fast rock song?’

“Sonics aside, such a perspective is truly post-punk. Because this is what it looks like to grow beyond the righteous rage of youthful punk: An embrace of maturity, a sense of personal and interpersonal accountability, creative ambition, an open mind, an open heart, and the readiness to reinvent. That’s what All Inside Aquarium is all about.

Catch BODEGA live:

(Tickets)

09/09 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
09/10 – Zaragoza, ES @ La Lata de Bombillas
09/11 – Donostia, ES @ Boga Boga Festival
09/13 – Asten-Heusden, NL @ Misty Fields Festival
09/15 – London, UK @ Sister Ray Records [special signing event]
09/15 – London, UK @ 100 Club [SOLD OUT]
09/16 – Paris, FR @ Pop Up! [SOLD OUT]

10/02-09 – Brooklyn, NY @ Millennium Film Workshop [All Inside Aquarium Art Installation + various events]
10/15 – New York, NY @ Rough Trade [in store performance, 6pm]
11/19 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
11/20 – North Shields, UK @ King Street Social Club
11/21 – Manchester, UK @ The Abbey [SOLD OUT]
11/22 – Manchester, UK @ The Abbey [SOLD OUT]

11/24 – Bristol, UK @ Electric Bristol
11/25 – London, UK @ The Garage
11/26 – Leeds, UK @ Irish Centre
11/27 – Birkenhead, UK @ Future Yard