Brandon - Before You Go [CD]

Brandon Joseph known simply asBrandon emerged from Southern California's rich creativelandscape with a sound that blends understated vulnerabilityand genre-defying ambition. Brandon found his voice throughtrial-and-error, persistence and vision, and his songs bear themarks of his resourcefulness: Brandon taught himself guitar byear, he plays every instrument on virtually every track, and henot only self-produced his debut, he mixed every song as well,finding harmony in their myriad layers. Following the success ofComing Clean and Blush, Brandon's debut album with SecretlyCanadian, set for release in May 2025, is both deeply personaland sonically ambitious.Written and recorded entirely in his home studio, someof the songs on Before You Go incubated for years whileBrandon's talent and resources caught up to the visions in hismind. A first-ever trip to his family home in Trinidad provedformative as well. There, Brandon's worldview became morerelaxed, more peaceful, and his music followed suit. "I learned totake my time," he explains, "to look at life differently, and to lookat people without the transactional mindset." The result is acollection of songs that aren't afraid to be confidentlyunderstated.Lead single "Right Back" embodies Brandon this, withbright, minimal acoustic guitar underneath Brandon's warm,romantic vocals. The song opens at the intersection of folk andR&B (think early Frank Ocean or Steve Lacy) but it cracks openinto something bigger - a windows-down, major-key floaterwith wistful lyrics, a feather-light syncopated beat and anirresistible, anthemic feel. Known for his magnetic performancesalongside Omar Apollo and Mac Ayres, Brandon's soulful voicecement his place as one of the most compelling newsinger-songwriters to emerge in years.