When you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself – with a trustworthy producer, horn section, string quartet and a few incredibly talented vocalists, of course. 

Fortunately, Sydney R&B prodigy BOY SODA had all of this at his disposal when creating his impressive debut album SOULSTAR, which arrives today. The highly-anticipated 13-track project comes after a string of compelling singles and his 2022 EP The Distance Between Thinking And Feeling.

We caught up with the man behind the magic to discuss just how it all came together, what goes into such a feat and much more.

“It’s very much a serendipitous, full-circle moment,” BOY SODA says. “I feel like it’s a realisation of a lot of clichés that you hear people talking about around the process and things you find along the way that weren’t the original goal, but end up being the fruits that you care about the most.”

He goes on to second the sentiment that once a creative work is out in the world, it’s no longer yours. After all, sometimes abandoning art is all that you can do to not lose sight of the original intent and go crazy trying to replicate exactly what you envision from the start.

“I think there’s times early in my career when I didn’t feel that way and now, I can’t wait for that moment where it’s finally this thing that I can’t work on anymore, even if I wanted to. I’m not a perfectionist in any way, so it’s nice to be okay with saying ‘it is what it is’ when it could be better and I feel like I found that equilibrium with SOULSTAR.”

Early tastes of the record in singles Lil’ Obsession, Blink Twice, 4K. and Never The Same showcase the artist’s dexterity as both a versatile vocalist and master vibe curator – a strictly technical term. 

BOY SODA has come a long way in the short time since his last offering, but you would be forgiven for thinking that SOULSTAR was his second or third album given how sophisticated yet accessible it is.

“A lot of my personal journey with musical maturity is focusing more on the taste of the decisions, the density of the musical choices we’re making, and how important their roles are in the song as opposed to me, five years ago, wanting to ‘fill fill fill,’” he explains. “Now, it’s just the beauty of space and the first time my music has had a lot of instrumentation, and I’ve really been enjoying allowing space to come back and the moments to really be moments because of that.”

These moments that he speaks of are sprinkled throughout the album, from the brass break in smooth opener My Body to the stripped outro of poignant closer Platonic & Sacred. 

Of course, soul and R&B are known both for their relaxing and expressive qualities, especially when paired with a nice view and good company. Interestingly, he describes soul as more of a feel than a sound, with a variety of artists, both influences and friends, contributing to the overall style of the album.

“Without naming anyone specifically, my rendition of soul is based on what I think at the time,” he explains. “Like, obviously it’s pulling from Marvin [Gaye] and Stevie [Wonder] and the Bee Gees and Jamiroquai. 

“I’ve listened to all of them, maybe some of them not fanatically, but I have this idea of how they make me feel and I’m trying to be nostalgic and refreshing at the same time.”

But it isn’t just the old-school classics that you can hear on the record. Even modern hip hop found its place in the mix.

“There were things that influenced different aspects of the album. I think I was listening to some Brent Faiyaz when we first started making it and I really noticed that a lot of his vocals are recorded quite quiet, which kind of opened up a lot of experimentation around exploring dynamics of voice.”

Most artists will tell you that finding the right song or take is a numbers game. The more you have, the higher the chances of striking gold. More importantly, it’s easier to distill the work into its essence after so many expressions in a variety of forms. 

In BOY SODA’s case, he wasn’t alone in this search – even after a breakup.

“I live with my (ARIA-nominated) producer Finbar, who worked on every song bar two on the album, so I really had the time with him to make a lot of songs after this egregious breakup,” he explains. “I had the space with him to make a lot of songs that will never see the light of day, but I was allowed to say things until I had the vocabulary to describe what I was going through. 

“So, this process of making a lot of songs got us to the batch of songs that ended up becoming SOULSTAR.”

It’s unfortunate that the artist had to suffer to create the work, but heartache is always a useful source of inspiration for the catharsis that follows and the end result is exceptional.

“You have to go through the process and I like that trial and error because when you finally figure it out, you feel like you’ve earned it.”

With the tracks that BOY SODA and Finbar had prepared together beginning to take shape, they were ready to give them the kind of flavour that only a natural setting (and many talented artists) can provide.

“We went to the Blue Mountains to finish this over two weeks and we just had the luxury of the most incredible musicians coming through that were also people we’ve been playing with over the past two years,” he says. 

“I was just sitting on the balcony looking out into a gorgeous valley filled with fog, with a live string quartet behind me.”

Well, if that ain’t the ideal scenario for making a soul album. Cue the coffee and birdsong, right?

“It would just kind of fall in our lap and it was a very divine experience being in the Mountains. Nothing was inhibited and there were no days where you were scratching your head or had writer's block.”

So, as well as hits from the ’70s and this beautiful isolation, what else informed the music?

“It was this weird lightbulb moment where, when I make music, I should make the music that I would listen to,” he explains. “Like, what do I want to hear? 

“That really started to frame my decisions and reveal the ongoing things throughout the album, like instrumentation and certain vocal tones.”

It’s evident that BOY SODA put his heart and – ahem – soul into the record, from the poignant lyrics to the moving performances. It’s both confident and vulnerable with a reflective lens that illuminates the deeper parts of himself for the world to see, some of which he wasn’t ready to explore or share until now. 

On top of this newfound intuition, there were also some specific events in his personal life that inspired the songs.

“I really just wanted this album to be a really honest imprint of me, for people to listen to it and, in a sense, they feel like they know me quite intimately,” he explains. “So, you know, there’s obviously a lot of love and grief in the relations space.

“But there’s a song about my aunty and my relationship with losing her, which I wrote before she passed away, actually.

“Also, songs about my relationship with my father and his role in the timeline of being a cycle breaker, and being the reason that me and my sister can have the freedom to go off and be artists fighting for our lives in Sydney.”

Fans were treated to an early album launch at Sydney’s LazyBones Lounge on Wednesday night, with Melbourne up next on Saturday, 11 October at Evelyn Hotel. Tickets to that one are available now.

BOY SODA will also be performing at a sold-out Beyond The Valley in December alongside the likes of Dom Dolla, Kid Cudi and Spacey Jane. If you were lucky enough to secure a spot, it sounds like it’ll be one for the books.

“I’ve really loved having quite a modular band over the past year where you can kind of chop and change for different settings,” he explains. “We had one gig where my guitarist played a hybrid guitar, so he was playing bass and guitar at the same time, going out to two different amps, with a percussionist, keyboardist and a sax player. 

“Being able to tailor performances and sets for particular spaces has been really important.

“I’m really excited to play the Like A Version that we just did, so that’ll a hundred percent be in all the sets, and we’re gonna run all the songs from the album, so expect a lot of live instruments,” he teases. “It’ll be a beautiful time.”

You better get familiar with this absolute gem, starting right now.

More than just a brilliant singer and songwriter, BOY SODA is itching to try his hand at a number of other projects and expand his horizons as a powerful creative force. So, what comes next for the rising star?

“I would love to do a lot of things outside of music in curating spaces or written word stuff, acting, writing skits,” he explains. “Creative directing [is something] I’m really into right now as well.”

Whatever the move, we’re all for it.

BOY SODA’s SOULSTAR is out now.