Brendan Brisk's surreal jazz / chamber pop / relationship story of "Chai Tea / Tai Chi" (Official Video)

photo by Delmonico Photography / "and it doesn't help that you kissed my best friend"

Brendan Brisk is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist based in Wilkes-Barre, PA with a sound described as "psychedelic funky jazz pop" and after diving into his latest creation, "Chai Tea / Tai Chi", I think it is an apt description, a tidy one but does it do justice to Brisk's artful aesthetic? I think not.  From the onset, there is an easy, breezy sway with ascending electric guitar lines as Brisk sings with personal pushed lyrics, painted with a patina of stomach churning reflections, 

"your innocence, it scares me lady", 

that belie the chill musical tones. Then the spiral starts, 

"don't think I could keep up with your wanderlust" 

and plummets even further, 

"I knew you were talking to another man", 

and darker, 

"and it doesn't help that you kissed my best friend". 

Sweeping  downbeats follow, vibrato rhythms that swell, drum beats that deliciously bark and bite, a single distant horn as if searching for an indie chamber pop track and Brisk's gutteral croon throughout. A decidedly swinging groove takes over, with orchestral flourishes and that horn that finds it's way beautifully into a potent jazz pop eruption that mixes happy with sad but steps back from a Joe Jackson-esque bitter jazz punk thing although he flashed in my head multiple times during some of Brisk's evocative melodies. 

"Chai Tea / Tai Chi" ended up surprising me so much that I have to listen repeatedly to get it all in, to feel it all. The journey that feels, at times, surreal is anchored by Brisk's vocal aesthetic that, to me, contain the soft and hard punches he has received and translated to musical marks that we can relate to 

-Robb Donker Curtius

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES


https://www.facebook.com/brendanbriskmusic


psychedelic funky jazz pop
Astrology Days Records Artist


Brendan Brisk is a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist out of Wilkes-Barre, PA. He is inspired by the Pennsylvania wilderness, outer space, and the great mysteries that exist beyond our senses.

2016 saw the release of his debut album, Astral Counterfeit: a solo excursion that explores funk, soul, and jazz elements and plays upon the influences of Beck, Sly and the Family Stone, and Sun Ra. Following the debut, Brendan connected with Bernard Gavlick (bass), Justin Malinowski (drums), and Miles Orfanella (trumpet) to bring his recordings to the stage.

Brendan’s second release, Relaxylvania, builds upon the momentum of the band and introduces a collaborative flair to a continued exploration of unique, genre-bending sounds. Relaxylvania creates an atmospheric space that encompasses a diversity of energies—from its driving opening track “Fanfare” to the ethereal closer “Music for Gabriel.”

Brendan is currently an artist on Astrology Days Records.

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