On their debut album Save It For Later, BLUAI embarks on a road trip through the sonic landscapes where Big Thief, Pinegrove, Haim, and Alabama Shakes reside. After winning the three leading Belgian music awards (Humo's Rock Rally, De Nieuwe Lichting, and Sound Track), the trio is expanding its horizons.
Save It For Later is a record like a Polaroid picture. Belgian songwriter Catherine Smet captures the memories of her youth in lyrics that carry a perfume of Americana, country pop, and indie folk. The stories are set in her native Belgium, but close your eyes, and galloping horses on a ranch in Mississippi form the backdrop of BLUAI's debut album.
Catherine Smet (vocals, guitar), Mo Govaerts (drums), and Caitlin Talbut (bass) joined forces with producer Willem Ardui (blackwave.) for Save It For Later. BLUAI's instruments were expanded with banjo and lap steel. Engineer Tobie Speleman received 'Nashville tuning' as a briefing. BLUAI thus shifts the focus from indie rock to Americana and breaks open the band's frame of reference, from Maggie Rogers to Alabama Shakes to The Japanese House.
Save It For Later is the soundtrack to a nostalgic youth film in autumnal tones – as if Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief had founded her own Boygenius on behalf of Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig. The maturing years are over; BLUAI is up to speed, and there is no brake on their ambitions.