album premiere: boy

The story of BOY goes something like this: Girl meets girl, girls become friends, girls realize that they share an interest in music—and then girls take two and a half years to do anything about it. "It was a very long process," admits Valeska Steiner, one half of BOY. "We knew that we wanted to make music together right when we met, but then it took us quite a while to figure out how we could write songs of our own. Sitting in one room and jamming didn't work for us, so we ended up sending each other e-mails with ideas, Sonja [Glass, her bandmate] developing instrumental tracks at her place and me finding lyrics and melodies to them at mine."

We're glad that the Hamburg-based duo finally became more than just pen pals, because the result--their debut album Mutual Friends--perfectly captures the energy you have with your closest friends. "We tried to create a light, airy, warm, and optimistic sound," notes Glass. We'd say they did (although not without a little help from their friends--they cite producer Philipp Steinke and Phoenix drummer Thomas Hedlund, who plays on the album, as major contributors). And you will, too; though the album isn't out until next week, we've got an exclusive sneak preview stream of Mutual Friends from first to last track.

Give it a listen, and then check out their tour dates--with their first proper US tour kicking off March 1, you may want to round up your friends and all go together. Or perhaps you're just as content to sit and listen to it by yourself. As Steiner puts it succinctly, the album is like "a good friend!"

Visit listentoboy.com for more info and check their Facebook page for a full list of tour dates. BOY - Mutual Friends by Nettwerk Music Group