Broadway performer Ali Louis Bourzgui (“The Who’s Tommy” and “Hadestown”) chatted about his new album “Becomes a Home” with Resident Lightweight.
The album is distributed by Joy Machine Records and it is being released this Friday on all music streaming platforms.
Background on Resident Lightweight
Resident Lightweight is a NYC-based folk duo comprised of singer-songwriters Ali Louis Bourzgui and Joey D’Amore. They both hail from Massachusetts, they combine elements of nature with acoustic folk, bluegrass, jazz and storytelling.
Their upcoming debut (concept) album “Becomes A Home” is part album, part soundscape. The listener is placed center stage, becoming the protagonist of the journey. They revealed their track-listing on a post on social media.
The album takes place in a house, a physical representation of returning to a childhood home and searching for answers to a past gone too fast.
“Becomes A Home” asks the question of what “home” means as you grow through life. How it defines our past, how we attempt to find new versions of it in the present, and how it informs our decisions for the future.
How did you approach the song selection process for the new album?
My writing partner Joey D’Amore and I wrote about 15 songs for this album and cut out two to create this streamlined concept.
We then took the songs and put them in an order that flowed the best and figured out how to tie transitions together and sew motifs throughout the whole piece.
We realized that all our songs were about a sense of home, nostalgia and that early 20’s longing for belonging and connection. Which inspired us to make the album inside a sonic representation of a house. “Becomes A Home” is part album, part soundscape.
The listener is placed center stage, becoming the protagonist of the journey. The album takes place in a house, a physical representation of returning to a childhood home and searching for answers to a past gone too fast.
“Becomes A Home” asks the question of what “home” means as you grow through life.
How it defines our past, how we attempt to find new versions of it in the present, and how it informs our decisions for the future.
Joy Machine Records will be distributing the album for us on all platforms and have been such a joy to work with. The album is produced by Jonah Bobo with additional production and engineering by Nicky Young.
What’s your personal favorite song on there?
My personal favorite song is probably “Gloucester.” It’s deeply personal to us and was the first song we fully wrote together as a duo.
It is the big finale track on the album and the song I feel most authentically represents our hearts and artistic core.
We wrote it in one night as Joey wrote the guitar part and I just sang my feelings about the state of the world over it until we had lyrics that stuck.
The song is about the experience of keeping your heart open in a harsh world and what it’s like to feel the weight of collective pain.
It’s a reminder that to be empathetic is a deeply human trait and to desensitize ourselves to pain whether it be ours or someone else’s is deeply harmful in the long run.
The song is named after the place in Massachusetts where my grandmother’s ashes were spread. Which perfectly mirrors something that is perfectly balanced in its beauty and deep sadness.
I also love how our producer Jonah Bobo orchestrated so much of the track with layered saxophones.
The sound is very comforting and nostalgic to me. It’s at the end of the album so I do hope people stay all the way through to hear it in context.
What inspires your music and songwriting?
Nature and other musicians are the most inspirational things for my music. Everything I write comes from a deeply rooted connection to growing up in Massachusetts, surrounded by trees, rivers and birds.
There is a real acoustic folk center to this album that is heavily inspired by mine and Joey’s Massachusetts upbringing.
I’m also endlessly inspired by other independent creative artists who release bold, interesting albums.
First that come to mind that directly inspired this album are: Jacob Collier, Dodie, Madison Cunningham, Lizzy Mcalpine, Bruno Major, The Punch Brothers, The Magic Lantern, May Erlewine, Norah Jones, Anais Mitchell, Jack Johnson, Billie Marten, Laura Marling, Nick Drake, Andy Shauf, Flyte, Watchhouse, Joni Mitchell, Rufus Wainwright, Theo Katzman, Hana Stretton, Adam Melchor, Hailaker, Iron and Wine, Adrienne Lanker and many more.
What do your plans for the future include?
I plan to take a couple months to hang out with friends and family, recenter and focus on performing this album live! Be on the lookout for live Resident Lightweight performances in the fall/winter! I also have a show coming up in the future that I can’t wait to “sink my teeth” into.
Were you going for a certain theme with this album?
The album starts off with a track called “Nomad’s Theme” which sets up many of the themes and musical motifs that make up the album.
The theme is very much about not having a set home and drifting through early adulthood trying to make a home from what’s available.
It’s about finding where to lean into nostalgia and when having too much of your foot in the past can hinder your growth forward.
How was “Hadestown” for you?
“Hadestown” was a dream! I’ve been such a fan of the show and album for years so to be a part of the legacy was an honor I never took lightly.
Anais is such a big inspiration to me and to be able to perform her brilliant lyrics and music every night was such a joy.
This show reminded me to lean into optimism despite the state of the world and it softened me and healed my heart.
I will be forever grateful and inspired by the people in that building who hold each other and the audiences that come in to be healed every day.
Orpheus taught me a lot about aspects of myself I haven’t seen in a long time and inspired future songwriting.
How was your experience in ‘The Who’s Tommy’ on Broadway?
That show taught me many things and also kickstarted my career, I’ll forever be grateful for it.
It was very intense to take on a role that large and demanding and learn how to do marketing and how to deal with the spotlight of awards season at the same time.
Tommy was a character who also taught me about the importance of innocence and vulnerability in a character. The show also strengthened and conditioned my voice for even higher vocal demands like “Hadestown.”
We worked on that show for a year and a half and the people from that show are now some of my lifelong best friends.
What would you like to say to your fans about the new album? (What’s the one thing you want them to get out of it)
I want the album to be a safe space. I tried to create a little world you can tuck into and recenter yourself with nature and childhood.
I want people to be able to put on their headphones when they’re asking life’s biggest questions and feeling overwhelmed and for the album to soften and heal them.
Their new album is available for pre-order on Apple Music and Spotify.
To learn more about Ali Louis Bourzgui and his music, follow him on Instagram and visit his Linktree page.
