Noir-experimental London crooner Brudini shares a couple of single tracks ahead of the album release on Apollon Records on October 9th. Debut ‘From Darkness, Light‘ is armed with guts, a piano, guitars, analog synths, and a jazz rhythm section.
‘From Darkness, Light’ is a poetic odyssey, unlike anything you’ve heard. It is the story of an emotional and spiritual journey. During the five years of its creation, Thai-Norwegian Londoner Erik Brudvik became a father, his Soho book shop first prospered, then went bankrupt, his longterm relationship ended, and he abandoned his career in finance. But from these changes, he finally found his creative voice as Brudini.
Having become a fan favorite at his live shows, Brudini’s single Radiant Man unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A protagonist with good intentions, fighting on, crushed against a tidal wave of forces beyond his control.
Brudini comments: “Radiant Man is the story of a person fighting against a tidal wave. Faced with darkness, there is still something about the enduring human spirit that emerges and can bring us closer. Radiant Man is an homage to this human radiance.“
Coined by Louder Than War as “an indescribable talent”, Brudini has drawn praise from NYC punk legend Danny Fields (Iggy Pop, Jim Morrison, The Ramones) and received continued radio support from BBC6, RadioX, and been featured on Radio 2’s Frank Skinner. His live performances include collaborations with Lulu Gainsbourg, appearances at Tate Britain and a sold-out Soho alt-cabaret with LGBTQ-pioneer Lanah P and Erasure´s Andy Bell.
Single Emotional Outlaw sees Brudini running up against an androgynous – and ambiguous – figure, who assumes the role of soul companion, of muse, of demon and – perhaps – a personification of suppressed aspects of himself. The relationship between them progresses as the track builds, the boundaries between the masculine and feminine energies blurring as Brudini pushes through preconceptions and – for a moment – is able to dance with his own fears, before climaxing in his violent self-destruction.
Brudini tells: “The song is about suppressing aspects your own identity, for the fear of what happens should you bring them out in the open. But when you finally embrace them, something magical happens. From there on it dances on that knife edge where creativity and destruction violently co-exist.”
Soul searching and profound, Brudini’s conceptual LP debut ‘From Darkness, Light’ weaves an abstract, wandering tale through feelings of loss and longing, anger, lust, and despair, towards cosmic consolation. The beatific qualities of his songwriting and lyrics fuse seamlessly with poems by Californian writer Chip Martin, at two generations his senior. The narrative comes alive through a visceral soundscape of creaky pianos, analog synths, syncopated jazz rhythms, and the occasional jarring distorted guitar.
Brudini rides dark undercurrents of our time in an existentialist groove in single Reflections. It is at the center of Brudini’s upcoming concept album ‘From Darkness, Light’.Orchestral and vibrant, yet tinged with a heart-stopping melancholy, Reflections is the sound of an artist railing against the unfulfilled promises of modernity.
Brudini tells: “Reflections is a lonesome journey through darkness. The song rides an uneasy undercurrent: part nostalgia, part desperation, an eerie testament to current times; where vague reflections in the night uncannily evoke the darkness in our collective past.“
Self-recorded and self-produced, Brudini’s debut is an invitation to slow listening, providing a bare and unusual perspective of the blood and guts of a grown-age transition.
Photo: (c) Anne-Line Nygaard
Preorder the album here, to be released on October 9th (CD) and October 30th (LP, black vinyl, 250 copies).
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Nicolae Baldovin
