Song Premiere: Brendan James, “Simplify”

The night before Brendan James began recording his fourth album, he took his band to the movies. They saw “Sound City,” Dave Grohl’s documentary about the classic analog-only studio in Los Angeles. The doc left an impact on James, who decided to record his new album with a similar sort of simplicity in mind.

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The result is Simplify, a back-to-the-basics song cycle co-produced by James himself. Most of the vocal performances are complete takes, and the songs were recorded live in the studio. “Stop for a minute, wipe the progress from our eyes and stare at the setting sun that holds us here alive,” goes the chorus to the album’s title track, a piano-fueled pop/rocker that feels like a mission statement for the entire record.

“‘Simplify’ is about finding a collective calm, breathing deeply in it, making decisions based on contentment rather than greed,” James says. “I’ve never been so proud to share a record… this one tells the story of my entire heart. Its release on August 6th can’t come soon enough.”

Until then, stream the title track below.