BC Camplight is the alter ego of maverick American songwriter Brian Christinzio. He is set to release his latest album How To Die In The North on January 20 via Bella Union.

He released albums in 2005 and 2007, both gems of a certain psych-pop vintage, combining eloquent songwriting with a self-destructive bent. Christinzio certainly knew it – he’s described himself as “the guy who blew it.”

His new album How To Die In The North—recorded in his newly adopted home of Manchester, England—is a stylistically diverse trip. From dramatic, layered pop to a haunted take on Sixties sunshine-pop, from blue-eyed soul to speedy surf-pop, from sparser piano balladry to psychedelic showstoppers and a grand finale that’s part Nilsson and part Broadway showtune.

Originally from New Jersey, Christinzio started playing piano aged just four, inspired by his mom’s Jerry Lee Lewis and Nilsson records and his Dad’s classical collection. Depression and crippling hypochondria clashed with captaining the football team and a penchant for boxing. Post-school, he fell in with people, “willing to go through shit to be a musician,” which saw him relocate to Philadelphia where he occasionally played live with Philly faves The War On Drugs and guested on Sharon Van Etten’s album Epic.

How To Die In The North – Track Listing

01 – You Should Have Gone To School
02 – Love Isn’t Anybody’s Fault
03 – Just Because I Love You
04 – Grim Cinema
05 – Good Morning Headache
06 – Thieves In Antigua
07 – Atom Bomb
08 – Lay Me On The Floor
09 – Why Doesn’t Anybody Fall In Love