Lesser Man (Extended Version) is the first release of Boy Harsher`s imprint, Nude Club Records, originally released on cassette by Soft Science in (2014), and Night People (2015). The album was reissued by the infamous Berlin goth label aufnahme + wiedergabe in Nov 2017 on 500 copies, and sold out in less than two weeks. Remastered by Thomas P. Heckmann at Trope Mastering, Lesser Man (Extended Version) includes the dark wave hit, “Pain” and the unreleased track “Run” which was recorded during the Lesser Man session.

TRACK LISTING

1. Lust
2. Modulations
3. Pain
4. Run
5. Crimea
6. Love
7. Spell

Download Code Bonus Tracks:

Bonus 1. Pain (The Soft Moon Remix)**
Bonus 2. Pain (Radio Edit)** 

The ten songs on Boy Harsher’s second full length album, Careful, spanning forty-four minutes, contain eerie narrative soundscapes that are both bracing, high tempo and dynamic. The album delivers manifold emotions, from the nostalgic yearning of “LA” to the gripping intensity of “Come Closer”. The nervousness of Augustus Muller's bent, out of tune synths paired with the lush and sometimes brittle vocals of Jae Matthews, delivers an unsettled, yet fulfilling encounter with Boy Harsher. Careful summons a new spirit for the young band - that of growth and desire. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Keep Driving
2. Face The Fire
3. Fate
4. LA
5. Come Closer
6. They Look You Gave (Jerry)
7. Tears
8. Crush
9. Lost
10. Careful 

Boy Harsher’s latest release, ‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’, is an exorcism.

Augustus Muller and Jae Matthews’ fifth release entitled ‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’ is not a traditional album. Rather, it is the soundtrack to a short film, also entitled ‘The Runner’. The film, written, produced, and directed by the duo, is a searching horror film, attached to a meta-style “documentary” about Boy Harsher’s recording process. The album includes several distinct components: cinematic arrangements, vocal features, and of course classic Boy Harsher dark pop.

Last year, in the midst of the obvious chaos (the global pandemic), but additionally with Jae’s MS diagnosis, Augustus started working on moody, cinematic sketches. It was uncertain what these pieces would become, other than catharsis. In Jae’s period of convalescence, she kept thinking about this sinister character: a woman running through the woods. Together, they developed this idea further into a film. They were unable to tour, a drastic (and isolating) shift in their career, and making ‘club music’ did not feel right. But there was so much they needed to get out. The next Boy Harsher release would be a reconciliation of this time. The album processes feelings of universal anxiety and the confrontation of at home illness. A necessary expulsion during a time of unrest.

The album opens with “Tower”. The only track on ‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’ that Boy Harsher has previously played live, but never recorded. The song is an incantation, with its pulsing synth and Jae’s begging vocals. A spell about desire and impending destruction. Jae asks 'But are you honest? Do you trust? You trust in me?' Questions answered by her desperate yells. It starts both the film and the soundtrack with a heavy presence.

Two songs on ‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’ feature vocalists other than Jae Matthews. He allows a distinct sound for both vocalists and really leans into the possibility of divergent genres. “Machina”, is a HI-NRG homage, performed by Mariana Saldaña of Boan, and “Autonomy” a new wave tribute, performed by Cooper B. Handy of Lucy. Augustus Muller fully embraces the soundtrack ethos, by creating fictional ‘bands’ to generate additional content.

‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’ is exactly what’s in the name: a soundtrack. At first the shape of the release was nebulous - yet once realized the album is dynamic. It serves as the story of the running figure and her musical accompaniment. Those expecting a traditional release will be surprised, but not disappointed.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Cold wave darlings Boy Harsher return with a new record as well as a horror film written, produced, and directed by the US duo. The accompanying soundtrack is everything you could want from a Boy Harsher album. Dark and mysterious, yet catchy and danceable, it is up there with some of their best work.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Tower
A2. Give Me A Reason
A3. Autonomy (Feat. Lucy - Cooper B. Handy)
A4. The Ride Home
B1. Escape
B2. Machina (Feat. Ms. BOAN - Mariana Saldaña)
B3. Untitled (Piano)
B4. I Understand

Augustus Muller, one half of Massachusetts electronic duo Boy Harsher, releases two original scores through own label Nude Club records. The films, Orgone Theory and Hydra, are Muller’s first foray into scoring. Both films were produced by UK based collective Four Chambers.

Four Chambers, or A Four Chambered Heart, produces adult material that focuses on DIY practices and non traditional bodies and narratives. Four Chambers is self-described by creator Vex Ashley as “deliberately ambiguous, rejecting labels for both (the) films and performers, existing in-between genres of both art and pornography and dismissing the need for a definition of either.”

After a successful collaboration between Boy Harsher and Four Chambers, with the film Archetype, Vex sought a direct collaboration between Muller. Hydra is a short, sci-fi experience studying invasion and consumption. Muller’s score delves into the film’s dystopian attitude, utilizing eerie industrial tones and wet synthesizers. The second short, Orgone Theory takes a more dogmatic approach: sexual scenarios confined within a metal box simulating the Wilhelm Reich’s orgone accumulator. In Orgone, Muller embraces more of a rhythmic preposition, referencing the film’s dynamic subject matter and alluding early work by Patrick Crowley.

There’s no need to confine the score to particular genres, yet for context - within these tracks, Muller combines disparate soundscapes, melancholy drone, and minimal synth.

TRACK LISTING

LP
A1. Orgone Theory Side
B1. Hydra

CD
1. Intro
2. Four On The Floor
3. Slow Blue
4. Taste Of Metal
5. Alone
6. Arrival
7. Invasion
8. The Machine
9. Consumption
10. Departure

The LP And CD Contains The Same Audio, Though The Audio On The CD Has Been Split Down To Individual Tracks. The LP Is One Continues Mix Per Side.