BRUSH: Love Sublime

Brush

Love Sublime

© 2007 Billy Brush (619981237321)

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Postrock, power pop, electronica with loads of hooks and ear candy that'll have you reaching for the repeat button.

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notes

Spend a couple minutes with Brush, and you realize you're talking to guys who started performing young in a variety of interesting ways: for Billy Brush it was a 4-track recorder, upright piano, and a "really cheap mic." John Buroker enjoyed being on stage. Sam Gray worked with mix cassettes, and Dave Elvin says he was "playing drum-like things" before he knew how to decide anything about his future. Eric Johnson just wanted to be a musician.

Fast forward: when Brush releases its new CD, Love Sublime, in Fall 2007, it'll be the culmination of two years' hard work. Billy Brush released his debut album, Lair, in 2005. The album scored airplay and charted on the West Coast. When he formed a group to support the album, it became obvious in the first few months that this was no longer a singer/songwriter surrounded by supporting musicians; this was a band. So, the band name simply became Brush.

Billy is joined by John Buroker, bass; Dave Elvin, drums; Eric Johnson, guitar; and Sam Gray, synthesizer and laptop. A behind-the-scenes fact that makes this album unique and enables the group to bring something special to stage is that all five are audio engineers. "We're all a lot more aware of what everyone else is doing in the band and how things fit together sonically," Billy says. "Sam also samples bits and pieces on the fly, sending them through delays and reverbs; sounds that – in the past – would've been reserved as studio gimmicks but can now be recreated live."

Their styles are different and complementary, and they definitely create something together that's greater than the sum of its parts. But when it comes to inspiration for new songs, they're pretty much in agreement: they draw their material from personal experience, or things they observe and then internalize.

Love Sublime was produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Feveyear at Jupiter Studios in Seattle, WA. Martin has worked with an extensive roster of bands, including Kings of Leon, The Presidents of the United States of America, Mudhoney, Crooked Fingers and many more.

Billy characterizes the material on Love Sublime as having a "darker outlook" on the human condition, focusing on "our frailties and shortcomings."

Despite the fact that not every song paints a rosy picture, Brush wants its audience to feel uplifted and energized, like they just spent an hour with their friends. "I like to interact and talk with the audience a lot; it's important to make that connection and not seem disaffected by what's going on in front of you," Billy adds. "I like to look out and see smiles, even if every song isn't golly-gee-whiz happy. "

He has a unique perspective on the biggest challenge he faces—and it has more to do with technology than music. "I think the greatest challenge as an indie artist is recognizing useful information and avenues from the general noise," he says. "There are so many places you can post your music and profile that it's tough to focus your energy at times. You're better off focusing on one site and driving all traffic to that."

"The biggest thing to remember is that grabbing someone's ear without annoying them is a fine line to walk."

reviews

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  • A surprisingly good album!
    author: Kaj Roth @ Melodic.Net

    Seattle based Billy Brush released his debut album "Lair" in 2005 and then formed a band to support the album, after 2 years of hard work the new album is finally finished with the new line up of Billy Brush-Vocals/Keyboards, Eric Johnson-Guitar, Sam Gray-Synthesizer, John Buroker-Bass and Dave Elvin-Drums. Brush combines postrock, powerpop and electronica with the psychedelia of Pink Floyd, imagine Ken Andrews collaborating with Art Alexakis in David Gilmour's house and we're close to the soundscape of "Love Sublime".<br><br> There's a certain atmosphere going through the whole album which can't be described, you gotta hear and feel it for yourself but fans of Ken Andrews will definitely find something pleasing when they listen carefully to smart songs like "Love Sublime", "BluDiamond", "Fallen" and "Action-Reaction". The winds of Pink Floyd are sweeping in during "Breathe in, Breathe out" and "My couch" while the straight powerpop of "Tending bar" shows another sunny side of this varied album. The closing track "Beetlezebub" has more of a 60's feel a la The Beatles in a spacerock suit, very cool. A surprisingly good album!

  • Pick this album up.
    author: NeuFutur Magazine

    Billy Brush last released an album in 2005; despite the break, the act has not lost a single step. Tracks like “My Couch” show Billy Brush and the rest of the band as a culmination of mid-nineties alternative with an earlier emo sound and more than a passing hint of Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants. The style of a “My Couch” is enough to draw listeners by the barrelful; it provides listeners with a sound that has referents in the popular music of the era but ultimately provides something new for individuals to pick up on. This blend of styles is a rare thing to hear in today’s music. It is the talent and virtuosity exhibited by Billy Brush on “Love Sublime” that demarcates them from all the other bands trying to earn a paycheck. The band furthers their cause by creating an emotionally heavy and logical progression during the middle section of “My Couch”; the scales played by the piano, coupled by the R.E.M.-like sound by the rest of the instrumentation on the track, gives this track life well after it winks into darkness. The title track of “Love Sublime” has the same simplistic sound of “My Couch”, but brings the band into new territory. This track allows Billy Brush to include much more in the way of electronic influence; hints of Nine Inch Nails, New Order, and Depeche Mode all influence the overall sound of the track. Of all the constituent elements of Billy Brush, the only thing that will strike listeners as a constant during the track would have to be the vocals, which again achieve a They Might Be Giants-like inflection to the lyrics on the track. The guitars imbue a slightly harder sound to “Love Sublime” than was present during “My Couch”, but the piano draws the band back from a Stabbing Westward-like sound. “BluDiamond” is a track that continues the electronic sound of Billy Brush, throwing in a disco-like bass line into the mix. The result is something that may just be the one track that will bring Billy Brush into the mainstream. The disaffected vocals during the track link the band back to the aforementioned dance bands, while the grit of the guitars tie the act to the latest and greatest rock acts. What results during a “BluDiamond” is a song that everyone can get behind; Billy Brush has their hit here, and this is where the band should focus on subsequent albums. Pick this album up. Top Tracks: BluDiamond, My Couch Rating: 7.0/10

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