Sienna Miller sort of dressed like one in 2007. The Dandy Warhols wanted to be one, like you. They’ve even got their very own rhapsody. Now Australian singer-songwriter Joel Sarakula has written a song about bohemians, and a fine little song it is too.
Twenty-seven year old Joel fronted his first band aged seventeen and has released three solo albums in Australia, but now he’s releasing new material with the intention of stripping everything bare and promising ‘no pretence’.
Opening with a fluttering harp and carried through to a boozy crescendo via a simple guitar riff, fun and folky first single ‘Bohemian’ is a simple and charming summer tune. Sarakula drawls the line “because I am…a bohemian” over and over like a gentle piss-take, parroting all of those starving artists who use it as a soothing mantra each time their mother asks “darling why don’t you have a real job like everybody else?” The artfully unexcited and lyrically languid chorus develops into a cheery sing-along, the words “because I am! A bohemian! A modern Stone Age man!” chanted like a drunken mantra by what sounds like a group of gentle non-conformist types around a campfire. With tambourines.
‘Bohemian’ goes from subtle sardonicism to cheerful optimism in about three minutes, and it’s a strange song in this respect. Initially Sarakula presents us with an ironic take on the lazy self-proclamation of modern bohemianism, and yet the end of the song bursts with the warmth, passion and community spirit that truly represents the bohemian vision.
So whether you identify as a bohemian or not - get a few mates around for a barbecue, stick on ‘Bohemian’, and sing along like you mean it.
'Bohemian' is released today, Monday 4th July.
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Twenty-seven year old Joel fronted his first band aged seventeen and has released three solo albums in Australia, but now he’s releasing new material with the intention of stripping everything bare and promising ‘no pretence’.
