boice, host of the music interview podcast, Talk Music Talk, returns to music with his third album, Nevermind the Hardships. Nevermind the Hardships is his first collection of music in nine years and was conceived during the pandemic. The 12-track album is a song cycle inspired by boice’s current three-year estrangement from his mother, who suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). In his relationship with her, he experienced a lifetime of narcissistic abuse including conditional love, a lack of empathy, manipulation and infantilization.
Through revelatory, intimate lyrics and warm electronica, Nevermind the Hardships is a concept album detailing aspects of boice’s life and his troubled relationship with his mother, both in his childhood and as an adult. “She” tells the story of a young boy receiving days of the silent treatment for any actual (or perceived) misbehavior. With a pop sensibility, “The Wound Collector” and “Smear Campaign” belie the darkness of being on the wrong side of a narcissist.
The album explores narcissism’s many facets, pulling away from the details of boice’s personal trauma with the voices of characters who share his emotional biography. “Bad Boyfriend” and “I’m Not Myself Today” show the perspectives of narcissists in relationships, while “I Cannot Be Loved” examines how a parent’s narcissism can have residual effects on a child’s understanding of love, even into adulthood.
On furlough for 13 months during the pandemic, boice taught himself how to play the piano and learned how to use Ableton Live, a music creation software, that he used to create Nevermind the Hardships in his home studio.
Never maudlin or self-pitying, Nevermind the Hardships eventually culminates with a trilogy of songs that speak of possibilities: the hope of “All Noise”; the healthy romantic relationships in “Early Riser” and the anthemic “Winners!”
Nevermind the Hardships was Co-Produced, Composed, Arranged, Performed* and Programmed* by boice
*Producer Jason Anthony Harris mixed, engineered and provided additional instrumentation and programming. Harris also records music under his solo project, Public Speaking.
Visit him online at jasonanthonyharris.tumblr.com
SONGS
1–The Wound Collector
2–Smear Campaign
3–She
4–Science is Fiction
5–Run 63 MPH
6–Early Riser (Interlude)
7–Bad Boyfriend
8–(I’m) Not Myself Today
9–I Cannot Be Loved
10–All Noise
11–Early Riser
12–Winners!