Boniface

Cinematic ambitions define the intimate, emotionally charged compositions of Boniface, which originated as solitary bedroom recordings by Canadian singer/songwriter Micah Visser. The act’s self-titled debut full-length reached the public in 2020.

Raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Micah Zachary Visser acquired proficiency on violin, saxophone, guitar, and piano before turning to songwriting. Once outside collaborators joined the process and the music outgrew its solo-project character, Visser adopted the Boniface name; the home-recorded performances and confessional lyrics—frequently resembling diary entries or personal correspondence—nonetheless retained their private character.

Boniface takes its title from the Winnipeg neighborhood where Visser and sibling Joey Visser spent their childhood. The project issued its first recording, the single “I Will Not Return as a Tourist,” in 2017. A promotional EP appeared the following year, performed by Micah, Joseph on guitar and keys, Louis Lévesque-Côté on bass, and Micheal Dunn on drums.

Drawn from the songwriter’s late-teen and early-twenties experiences, the eponymous album was tracked primarily in Visser’s bedroom and secondarily at a London, Ontario studio alongside producer/engineer Neil Comber, whose credits include Charli XCX and M.I.A. and whose input shaped the expansive arrangements. Credited to the core trio of the Visser brothers and Dunn, the record appeared on Transgressive in February 2020.