Pop Music’s Rising Star, Bossie, Talks About Her New Song, “A Lot Like Love”
Written by Elio Iannacci on October 6, 2016
Once you see the music video for Bossie’s debut single, “Meteor,” you won’t be able to forget it. In the video, the Toronto-born singer-songwriter is showered with glitter and confetti by a film crew. At first, it’s amusing, but then it becomes confusing, and as Bossie’s clothes, face, and tongue become covered in sparkles and feathers, the deeper message becomes clear. Women in pop music face unrealistic beauty standards, and even though it looks extravagant and glamorous, it can be damaging. What makes it more complex is that the choruses in “Meteor” and Bossie’s upcoming album, Not Pictured, are the kind of catchy tunes you would expect from artists like Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, or Kesha.
So, why would Bossie, a 27-year-old artist whose real name is Anne Douris, critique and satirize the pop music industry she is trying to break into? “It’s not really me,” she explains. Bossie is a character she has created to expose the inauthenticity of pop personas. “I can’t be that girl,” she admits, referring to the Taylor Swifts, Beyoncés, and Katy Perrys of the world. “I’m not that cool, confident, comfortable-in-my-body kind of girl. We project these images onto women musicians, but I’m just an awkward, early 20s, insecure person. Trust me, there are many of us out there, so if I didn’t take it to the extreme, my act would feel fake.”
The concept for the “Meteor” video naturally came from Bossie, who has multiple talents as a video director, animator, set designer, graphic designer, music producer, and T-shirt designer for other bands and acts. Her own influences are diverse, ranging from electronic groups like New Order and Joy Division to ’90s TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and poets like Anne Carson. One of her songs, “Three Dimensional,” has an ’80s rom-com vibe and is a love song dedicated to her Nintendo 64. Despite her retro inspirations, many of Bossie’s tracks directly speak to her generation. Her latest single, “A Lot Like Love,” explores the psychology of social media, questioning whether the validation she receives from likes and selfies is genuine or if she needs to seek validation elsewhere.
Another track, “Post Teen,” delves into the struggles faced by Bossie and her friends in their twenties. “We’re in this weird transitional phase of our youth where we don’t really know what to do or how to escape our current situation,” she explains, addressing common issues of depression and feeling lost as one grows up. “The song captures that feeling of being lost. Dr. Seuss called it ‘The Slumps.'”
Bossie chose her stage name to reflect the experiences she has had in the music industry. “The biggest problem I’ve seen is that women are often silenced when working on their music. People tell them, ‘You don’t know how to make decisions, be quiet!’ I won’t stand for that,” she declares. “Musicians are essentially entrepreneurs. You are the boss of your own business, and if people don’t respect that, it hinders your work.”
Don’t miss Bossie’s latest single, “A Lot Like Love”: