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Bomethius

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Press Kit for "Goodbye Covid-19" — Release Date 08/07/20

About the New Single

Supported by a plaintive violin, the single’s strong songwriting recalls M. Ward’s smooth, breezy vocals and clean electric guitar to trace the coronavirus’ devastating impact on family, ritual, and the future. Gentle variations on the song’s refrain trace personal reactions to the pandemic from dismissal to nightmare to a hopeful acceptance grounded in a love no crisis could thwart — even if it did disrupt the wedding plans.
 
“Goodbye, Covid-19” chronicles my experience with getting married in the midst of a pandemic. It’s not really something I would recommend, but despite the fact that we were deprived of our original venue, the majority of our friends, and some of our family, we found it to be surprisingly beautiful. And while we appear to be a long way off from actually saying goodbye to this virus, the song is about how good it will feel whenever we do finally get to say goodbye to Covid-19, and hello to one another — in person! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for listening!

LYRICS

By a pool reclining 
Just our friends, you and me 
But it’s so far away 
I’m overcome thinking 
Goodbye, Covid19 

We thought you’d play the piano 
And they that I would hold a violin 
Just when I think we know the answer 
Then it looks like goodbye, cried Covid-19 

Grandpa this is serious 
Please cancel your flight 
This isn’t the flu, and no it’s not cancer 
Let’s not say goodbye because of Covid-19 

The parks are all closed 
No matter we’ll be married where we are 
Everything’s looming around the corner 
But we won’t say goodbye, Covid-19 

We’ll meet again soon 
I can’t say when or where 
But when we do, I’ll hug you a bit longer 
And we won’t say goodbye because of Covid-19

Bomethius · Goodbye Covid - 19

PHOTOS

PC: Rachel Gan

PC: Rachel Gan

About Bomethius

Bomethius is the solo project of Dallas-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Jonathan Hodges. A capable pianist, guitarist, and vocalist, Hodges has also studied the violin since he was 3 years old. With Bomethius, he draws from his classical training for a mischievous brand of baroque pop that echoes the sounds of Andrew Bird, Elliott Smith, and Randy Newman. Developing the character of the songwriter’s complicated alter ego, Bomethius doubles as a vehicle for channeling the frank, existential audits of a disenchanted young man plagued by alienation and shame.

Hodges’ first release as Bomethius, Intimatitudes (2017) showcased the songwriter’s tortured wit and impressive command of his instruments to chronicle the internal turmoil of an earnest youth’s coming of age. Another spry meditation on selfhood and doubt, his sophomore record As Roses (2018) achieved a tighter, more refined sound through superior songcraft, vocals, and piano and guitar work.

The next year, Hodges followed with his breakthrough release, Sweet Nothings (2019). Exploring a range of styles from blues and jazz to minimalism and chamber rock, Sweet Nothings is Hodges’ stirring anthem to his own manic strain of indifference — at turns exalted and heartbreaking — tempered by restless obsessions with home, memory, and time. Dubbed “a folk masterpiece hiding in plain sight” by Atwood Magazine, the album earned further acclaim from The Album Effect podcast, which praised its “incredibly beautiful music.”

For Bomethius’ fourth record, Hodges partnered with his uncle and closest family member, Dave Hodges, for a full-length collaboration titled inadiquit (2020). A longtime writer and amateur composer, Dave lent his nephew not only his taste and expertise, but also the wisdom afforded by the eighteen additional years he’d spent wrestling with the same preoccupations that have fueled Bomethius’ music from the beginning. At once excruciatingly tender and raucously explosive, inadiquit engages head-on the enduring trauma of a troubled upbringing coupled with misguided devotion to toxic religion. Praised by We Are Mirrors for delivering on its “heady concepts, both lyrical and compositional, through a progressive baroque-pop vessel that’s as ambitious as it is humble,” the album showcases Bomethius’ compositional prowess, emotional fiber, and production quality at their best.

In anticipation of Seasons of Limbo, his forthcoming record slated for early 2021, Bomethius released two singles in 2019-2020. A sincere folk ballad recorded days after twisters tore through his Texas hometown in November 2019, “Tornados in Dallas” recalls the early works of Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen to celebrate the mystery and power of disasters, which destroy lives even as they bind people together. “Goodbye, Covid-19” followed in August 2020. Supported by a plaintive violin, the single’s strong songwriting recalls M. Ward’s smooth, breezy vocals and clean electric guitar to trace the coronavirus’ devastating impact on family, ritual, and the future. Gentle variations on the song’s refrain trace personal reactions to the pandemic from dismissal to nightmare to a hopeful acceptance grounded in a love no crisis could thwart — even if it did disrupt the wedding plans.

Hodges graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2019 with a bachelor of music degree in violin performance. His former teachers include Marla Feeney, Alexander Serafimov, Ivan Ženatý, Chee-Yun Kim, and Diane Kitzman.

Inquiries

Email: Bomethius@gmail.com

Please share this music with people you care about. Sharing the music means a great deal more than buying the music — but by all means do that too! Bandcamp is the best place to buy my music!
Beyond that, feel free to reach out with your questions! Deliberate over the lyrics, sing along, record/perform a cover, etc. Discussions are important instruments for the growth, and development of people and artists alike — allow this music to be the catalyst towards our mutual and individual growth within the collective.

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