Brendan Welch Delivers A Warm Rock Record

A new release from Brendan Welch delivers a lot of indie rock, but with an underlying warmth that reminds you of folk music, to an extent. The songs have a smooth sort of tone but can get edgy at times with amazing guitar work, and the songs have a brilliant way of telling stories, at times with great detail enough for you to paint a picture in your head as they unfold.

Returning is an album that speaks volumes for the artist, as it breeds elements of classic rock and brings out a lot of soul, especially in the vocals.

The vocals across the record have the same kind of warmth and an almost inviting quality to them. They invite you to listen to the stories that are being told, and the whole record gives the air of a live performance.

A lot of these songs have a particular way of putting you in the moment with them, so it feels good to go through this record in its entirety.

This is one of those albums that you listen to all the way through, not just because of the stories, but because they feel almost like chapters in the artist's life.

The songs were like chapters in a book, and you wouldn't skip chapters in a book, so I wouldn't suggest skipping songs on this album either.

The record comes in with a track called 'High Alert", which does a great job of welcoming you into the release and its warm tonalities.

You have flowing guitars that have almost vintage aesthetics and tones to them, and this is a big part of why the record comes across with a particular kind of atmosphere, breeding that old-school, classic rock vibe.

This is a sound that becomes a staple throughout the record and part of why it's easy to get attached to the entire thing.

The album also boasts amazing production, and you can hear how well the guitars are panned from left to right throughout the entire record, giving it a full-bodied feel.

This is also an attribute that sticks through the course of the full release, and why listening to this record with headphones is a must-do.

The mix of the record is a huge part of why it comes through the way it does. When you listen to this album with headphones, you are sort of swimming through the songs as they surround you.

You can tell there's a lot of thought that went into those aspects of the record, along with arrangement and composition.

There's also a little bit of pop sensibility going on through a bunch of these songs. Again, they can be very honest and have a rock overtone, but you can hear elements of pop coming through. There are certain verses and choruses throughout these songs that sort of stick with you for hours after they have ended.

Some tracks can also feel sort of vast in their undertones as well. Songs like "Some Days Are Friends" come through with a bit of spacious feel and still account for some pop sensibility.

You can clearly tell that it is influenced by not just rock but folk music as well. That has a lot to do with the storytelling and how vocals and progressions come through.

When I listen to some of these tracks it feels like they started on an acoustic and then fell into a full band sound later on.

Perhaps that's how Brendan writes his music.

The record also boasts some powerhouse cinematic style ballads with piano and more, including songs like "If You Want To Be Me". 

This is also a great example of a track that sheds some light on who he is as a person. A lot of inner thought comes out throughout the record, and I think that's a brilliant aspect because I feel like that's what people want to hear with music like this.

Some of this is a little experimental or slightly outside the box, but a lot of it feels warm and familiar. He's got a great slew of influences that he's pulling from and definitely spins his own atmosphere with this album.

I would definitely take a deep dive into this one, and again, listening to it with headphones puts you in these songs a little bit deeper, so it's more fun that way.

Don't skip around, listen from start to finish, because then you get the full picture.

Check this out now and you'll see exactly where I'm coming from.

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