There’s a lot going on in the compositions of Rob Bravery. But the skill of this Bristol-based singer-songwriter is in not making it apparent. The details are subtle, and wrapped in a soft-focus haze of reverb through which his soft voice drifts in a swoony croon.
Much has already been made of his combination of alt-folk and electronics, and comparisons to Radiohead are filtering through in the press: this is perhaps best evidenced on ‘Fruition’, which builds a hypnotic tension that evokes Radiohead’s haunting darkness.
Backed-off beats drive ‘The Man Good Fortune Forgot’ and single cut ‘Knock Out Ginger’ is sparse, with a strolling piano dripping over a trip-hop rhythm, is suitably enchanting. ‘You Don’t Know When to Stop’ also calls to mind Radiohead, but also Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’, and I can’t say that’s a good thing.
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At times when the balladeering threatens to become rather drab, but the carefully poised atmospherics of tracks like ‘Me, Myself and the Scurvy Knave’ differentiate Bravery from his peers and hold the interest.
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