Earlier this year, we had several posts connected to the album Story by David Bronson (most prominently an interview he did in association with the 3rd NYC podcast). You may recall that the album was only half of a two-album work that documented a particularly difficult time in David's life. The second, The Long Lost, came out this week. David will be playing a release show tomorrow at Brooklyn Bowl. You should come!
Though released first, Story represented the second part of the cycle, the emergence from turmoil. The Long Lost is the other half, and one that captures the downward turn, which is chronologically first. Make sense? Either way, it's another great album. I haven't spent enough time with it to do justice in the form of a nuanced review, but like Story, an album that offered so much with each listen and really hit me very powerfully, this will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through an intense period of strife as they began to mature. So, I should have said everyone, basically.
It took him roughly a decade, but David has really accomplished something special with these albums. Most of the music was done by him, and while it seems a little less dynamic and layered and loud on the whole than Story, The Long Lost still demonstrates David's songwriting and arranging abilities. The music is always interesting and matches well to the words that come straight from his heart and soul. There is an undeniable sense of human emotion and connection, even if painful, which makes his work so rewarding. Perhaps I'll write more in detail about it later, but you should get the album. You can find links to do so here.
The show at Brooklyn Bowl is going to be fun. It's part of a bill that includes Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman and Addison Groove Project. David will go on around 8:00 and it costs $12. You get the album if you go, I believe. I'll leave you with the video for "Living in Name." He's made so many good ones, and this is no exception. It's simple but really cool visually.