Oceans by Bright Brown

Overcoming the adversity of Brooklyn’s summer of 2010, Bright Brown's highly anticipated second release, "Oceans", was entirely recorded and mixed in their basement studio in the dry moments between flooding episodes brought on by that seasons’ torrential rain, a freak tornado, and an apocalyptic hailstorm. The record surfaced as a celebration of all of life’s unknowns. “I wish I was a diver, there are oceans we don’t know” is a line from the first track, Diver, that may indeed sum the record up, a record many are claiming to be Bright Brown’s greatest sonic adventure to date. Some of the songs stay hypnotically intimate while others choose moments to explode fully, saturating space with high arching choruses and rich musical texture.

Alex Nahas sings with a hope-tinged, quirky reverence for life’s great mysteries while creating engaging sonic texture on the seldom seen Chapman Stick, as Nick Smeraski drums slinky yet explosive grooves underneath. New to the mix are the cinematic stylings of keyboardist, David Blatty, pushing the envelope even farther every which way. Also featured are the voices of Alex’s wife, Sarah Nestel, 7 year old son, Aurel Nahas, and an infectious and quirky array of backing vocals from Nick and David.

In a complacent age where millions of bytes of information are within reach of our desk chairs and in our pockets, this reminder that there are still oceans out there, dangles enough meaning to keep leading us on.

Bright Brown is sonic cinema. Bittersweet layers and textures abound, and beautifully crafted songs exist at the core. Alex Nahas’ verse boldly chooses to sit “between the meager and the mundane” elevating the everyday. He generates a broad sonic palette on the rarely seen Chapman Stick conjuring up a filmic landscape.

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