Ezra Furman – Grand Mal

Ezra Furman opens a new chapter with “Grand Mal,” a slow-burning piece that sets the tone for her upcoming tenth album, Goodbye Small Head (out May 16 via #BellaUnion). The song takes its name from the outdated term for a major seizure, drawing inspiration from an epileptic friend’s description of the mystical aspects of certain episodes. It’s a fitting introduction to an album obsessed with surrender—whether to illness, ecstasy, heartbreak, or the world’s chaos.

From the start, “Grand Mal” establishes itself as something cinematic and unsettling. There’s no slow reveal here —t he song throws you directly into its world of dizzying emotions. This isn’t about someone losing control; it’s about inhabiting the mind of someone already deep in the spiral. This is Furman at her most immediate. Written during a period of unexplained illness and creative urgency, the album’s songs arrived like involuntary outbursts.