“Gun Life” is the debut single from Emperors of Rome, the duo of Dom Bouffard (vocals & guitar) and Alli MacInnes (vocals, guitar & drums). They met on tour with former bands, later eloping in Berlin. Dom found work as a guitarist with Rufus Wainwright, and then Lou Reed. These contributions led to an invigorated period of songwriting, with Allie adding her beautiful harmonies and captivating guitar/drum parts.
They recorded several tracks over two weekends of downtime at Hansa Tonstudios in Alexanderplatz. “Gun Life” is among them, a delicately empowering effort featuring the vocals of both, alongside strings that exude a vibe reminiscent of The Velvet Underground (the duo cite Sunday Morning and Pale Blue Eyes as influences). Alli’s vocal additions add a spacey, Mazzy Star-like quality alongside Dom’s Reed-esque vocal suaveness. “Gun Life” is a captivating effort from this promising new project.
This track and other highlights from November comprise Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of November 2018’ playlist, streaming in full below:
