Brand New Friend - “Stars Bleed”

From Ireland, Brand New Friend have decided to dazzle listeners with their indie pop-rocker “Stars Bleed.” This track comes ahead of their LP, Grandstand, which is due for release on September 15.

The soft keys of a piano bring this song to life, but it only takes mere seconds for the rest of the band to appear. Layers of guitar atop a foundation of bass and drums steadily churn out the makings for a stellar arrangement. The spotlight here is on the ear-worm type melody that rings out above the luscious wall of sound– it is almost synth like, but our ears are letting us it could also be a lead guitar. In any case, it’s catchy enough to demand your undivided attention.

The vocals are very laid back and dreamy, at times accompanied by a glorious harmony, which helps to thicken and widen the sound. They climb into their falsetto at just the right times, delivering an emotional performance that is very believable. Brand New Friend manage to tick all the boxes for an anthemic rock song, without over-processing any element or leaning too heavily upon modern production tactics. “Stars Bleed” sounds as though it would effortlessly translate to the stage and that is where we hope to catch it, provided they ever bring it stateside.

This is our first time hearing from Brand New Friend, but with songwriting like this, “Stars Bleed” will, most assuredly, not be the last of their tracks that we feature. We so often find ourselves seeking out stripped-back, melancholy music that we often forget to explore the indie rock soundscape that is provided by songs such as this.

-HD