Today The BRKN return with their first single since their No. 3 EP, which arrived back in March. “Be Cool”—premiering below—shows the Denver pop-punk trio delivering an upbeat, nihilistic bop.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Go down / I’m obsessed with a vision she’s not you / so darkness helps,” yowls frontman Jacob Cade in an early verse over punchy guitar and drums. “My mind is a ghost town / Mistaken feelings understate my innocence / Do you want a blackened heart?”
“The song is a story of two people with two different ideas on love,” Cade tells American Songwriter. “One being that love is passionate and everlasting just like in the movies. The other is that love is cliche and naive. None of it really even matters, so why not share one night of passion/regret and euphoria together. Then go your separate ways.”
The track’s chorus speaks to the former, romantic perspective on love: “So Just be cool nobody knows / Be cool I can hear your thoughts from across the room / A tender kiss no ties / So Just be cool nobody knows / I’m so obsessed with the way that your mouth moves / The way that your mouth moves.”
Meanwhile, the bridge speaks to the latter, jaded perspective: “Nothing really matters cause life is just a construct / The past behind my eyes keeps me prisoner in my sleep.”
Musically, “Be Cool” is one of the BRKN’s most confident cuts to date. “I feel like this song is finally the sound we’ve been wanting to be,” says Cade. “It’s euphoric for me as a songwriter to be writing tunes now that actually sounds like I want them to in my head.”
“We really came together as a band to harness all of our creativity and focus it into a final product that feels really good,” adds guitarist MJ Younkers, who rounds out the band along with drummer Mike Bokenkamp.
“Be Cool” comes after their debut EP, No. 3, which was named in honor of Cade’s grandfather.
“My grandfather played soccer in Mexico and wore the number three,” he explains in a statement on the band’s website. “I always had it in my mind. I have it tattooed by my ear even. I wanted to name the EP No. 3, because these are such important songs to me.”
“When you listen to us, I’d love for you to feel energized and pumped,” he adds. “At the same time, I want to let you know what I’m going through. If someone listening identifies, there’s nothing better. THE BRKN can show you there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us.”
Cade’s open-hearted songwriting and energetic performance style are two of the defining features of The BRKN’s music.
“Basically the whole record is about a breakup,” he said of No. 3 in a recent interview. “Sort of like a journal entry of that point in time of my life. Heavily influenced by the rebuilding of myself and the discovery of who I really wanted to be as a person. Recording the songs was a bit of a mess because I had not even met the band yet. I wrote everything myself and had some amazing musicians that were buddies of mine play bass/drums. Love the record but stoked to come out with some new stuff we’ve been working on!”
“Be Cool” is a promising first glimpse of that new stuff. Check out the track—plus an accompanying video—below.
