Brennan Gilmore Releases A New Single Ahead of His LP
A new single from Brennan Gilmore delivers this very warm set of tones that allows the song to lean into a very upbeat and pop-coated approach to Americana.
The reason this hits the way it does is that it has a lot of Southern instrumentation, including violin that performs as fiddles throughout the song, giving it that element of country underbelly.
The rest of the song really feels a lot more acoustic pop to me. I really like the combination of those two elements because it lets the song branch out naturally and feel welcoming.
"New Sudan" has a naturally breezy kind of feeling to it. It's almost freeing, in a sense.
Again, it does have an upbeat kind of feel, and the rhythm is very danceable, actually. I love how the song comes through with so much robust color and flavor. The acoustics have a great tone to them; the violins add that different layer of texture and also just sort of riff throughout the track, giving it a little extra swag, and the vocals are double-tracked, so they're coming through with a great thickness.
I definitely love how everything fits together like puzzle pieces and how the song itself sort of broke genre barriers ever so slightly.
The track also features live percussion, which really helps drive the song. The drumming is amazingly well done because it doesn't just sit firmly in the pocket. It adds a lot of electric energy to the track and helps it sort of push forward so that you have something with a beautiful flow to it.
I also really liked how the vocals complement the instrumentation so well.
To me, the vocals feel like folk. They have that sort of storytelling indie-folk approach, again, double-tracked so that you really get pulled into the lyrics and so that the song has a bit more layers to it.
The track itself definitely has some depth lyrically, and that's part of what pulls you into it all as well. It's got a beautiful and almost elegant approach to it, but feels energized.
I think that energy is one of the biggest attributes of the track that gets you addicted. The energy is pretty infectious. It's overdone; it's really well balanced dynamically.
The vocal performance throughout this track starts almost subtly, in a way. By the time you get to the end of the track, there are layers of harmonies almost like a choir, and it really fills any space there was before.
It makes the song so much more intense by that final chorus, and it's got a sort of outstretched, hands-in-the-air, almost anthemic feel to it because of that.
I like how he builds those vocals up throughout the song. They don't come in that layered, but by the end of it it's just a powerhouse of intensity, and this is due to his ability to really pay attention to arrangement and knowledge of how songs should be able to grow to climactic points.
Between the instruments, vocals, and especially drumming, a lot of this has the air of a live performance.
It feels almost as if all of this was recorded live on the floor and all the players were feeding off of each other the entire time.
There's the element of synergy sort of laced throughout this single, and because of that, you have different moving parts and a sense of a song that feels alive and breathing.
This was a really elegantly performed track. It's got the perfect balance of energy and character so that you're pulled into the song from all angles.
As far as I can tell, this is a glimpse of an upcoming record set to be released this July via Concordia Discors Recordings.
I certainly look forward to that one, especially if it's got more songs like this.
It's clear that Brennan is a storyteller; he doesn't really hold back in terms of his lyrics, and he's definitely open to branching out and bending genres to create something that is authentic.
Don't just trust these words though. Have a listen for yourself and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) • Instagram photos and videos
