Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, veteran rocker Pennan Brae is kicking off 2023 with a brand-new full-length album, titled “Arcade.” Brae has a knack for collaborating with impressive professionals on his work he’s been releasing since 2008. From writing the soundtrack, as well as the film, and working with Grammy award-winning engineer Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios for “The Astronot” (streaming on Amazon Prime) to releasing a pair of singles featuring the work of Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Garry Gary Beers (INXS), Pennan Brae seems to be busy and always creating art. Such a delightful discovery for me being an enthusiast for independent arts of all varieties, not only music, but as someone who has a Podcast featuring independent writers and their short horror stories, I was excited to catch wind of an independent film to check out as well, as you could probably imagine. “Arcade” marks the 13th full-length album in his repertoire. Heavily influenced by Classic Rock sounds of the 1970s and 1980s, it is set for release January 20th and currently taking pre-orders on Bandcamp:
The album was recorded at Blue Light Studio in Vancouver and features currently released lead-off singles “Jettison,” “Arrival Time,” and “Bon Voyage.” A plan for release of a music video for “Jettison” is also slated for release when the album drops. Yielding 4,675 monthly listeners on Spotify, Brae’s work is highly anticipated. This album reflects a sound consistent with his last two efforts, as well as a lineup consistent with them as well:
Drums: Edward Whelan
Bass: Kaj Falch-Nielsen
Harmonies: Alison Jenkins
Guitar & Vocals: Pennan Brae
Produced by Kaj Falch-Nielsen & Pennan Brae
Mastered by Kaj Falch-Nielsen
Recorded at Blue Light Studio in Vancouver, BC
The previous two albums being “The Garden Series” Volumes 1 and 2. Resonant of 1970s classic rock and the more modern “Garage Rock Revival” movement, I particularly like Alison Jenkins contributions to the harmonies in this iteration of Brae’s work. His vocals along with hers, mesh well with the dueling octaves on guitar and give a cool, full-sounding dynamic to overall sound. The album is also nicely mixed with thoughtful spacing of frequencies and rests, helping it sound exceptionally locked-in rhythmically and tight.
In what appears to be conceptual theme, given the name and artwork of the album, there are various spots in the album that sound and call back to a retro-gaming feel. And as most anyone who is familiar with and into those old-school games knows, some of those classic NES soundtracks make for awesome guitar-oriented covers. “Hold the Line” and “Swing on Vine” in particular hit me with that “retro-game” vibe. In fact, “Swing on Vine” specifically brings to mind one of the stages in Mega Man 3 for some reason. If you got a fever for that cowbell, there are a few spots of anthem rocking fit for that in “Stage Right.” The album also calls back to some classic rock and roll chord progressions, modernized like the way the Ramones used to do, with “Jettison” and “Rumble.” Brae covers the spectrum in that classic rock sound, reminding me of classics like The Stones in “Sauntering,” and Bon-Scott-era AC/DC with “Shrug.” One of the primary lead-off singles and subject of the upcoming Music Video, “Arrival Time,” ventures into moments of Shoegaze, 90s Pop Alternative, and/or Cow-Punk by my ear. All in all, Brae does it again with a solid Classic Rock meets Garage Rock Revival album. “Bon Voyage,” another of the released singles and one of Brae’s most popular to date, is a featured track on the #LT1KF Indie Hour. Tune-in Tuesdays thru Thursdays at 6pm PST on AMS Radio for a chance to hear it!
Don’t forget to support this project and follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. You can also visit his official website. If you enjoy their music and are able to provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp.
It also helps to stream and share their music; you can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Fresh Singles, Indie Only, Alterindie State Of Mind, 12 New Songs This Week, Sickest & Dopest, and Unkown But Essentials!
Remember that you can always find me here AMS Radio for all my social media and collaborations.
P.S. If you enjoy discovering new artists and fresh new music you can subscribe to this blog Less Than 1,000 Followers and follow the Playlist with all the artists that we have presented here!
This coverage was created via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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