Brother Elsey – self-titled
Brother Elsey is a band of three siblings: Brady Stablein (vocals and guitar), Beau Stablein (bass), and Jack Stablein (lead guitar), plus their homie Dalton Thomas (drums). Brother Elsey has a new self-titled album releasing this week that reveals their instinct for glorious presentation through sublime restraint. These are songs that take you into their confidence and sound like they’re coming to you from an ephemeral mist at the same time. Working with producer Drew Long (Judah & The Lion), Brother Elsey blends their lavish stratified vocals with their signature gossamer sounding modern folk.
The band’s innate respect for the importance of spaces and silences is the first thing you’ll notice in the album opener “Passing Through.” Here you’ll find that feeling like you don’t belong, you’re still waiting for someone, but you’re just passing through. Living perpetually in the outsider mode is toasted here, with the clear and confessional: “I make my living leaving things behind, no exceptions to the rule, honey not even for you, I’m just passing through.”
“Bad Advice” starts out with a raw earnestness before lobbing up to more ethereal heights. At times in listening to this one, the vocals seem to take on the quality of a different substance, as if they are blending with an unknown invisible instrument: “the state I’m in, something’s got to give / I’m afraid of myself more than anyone else / can’t shake it, can’t call it down / I’ll try anything twice, so give me some bad advice.” It’s soul searching.
“Blameless Blue” is an ode to getting sober, and again sometimes the tones of the guitars are exotic and sound like other instruments altogether. “Seeking” is a song of comfort to a friend who’s falling and tweaking out of their skin – “I’ll help you make it right again / I’ll be your breathing / I’ll keep seeking / I see your eyes and you’re so afraid. I see myself in every chance of pain / there’s peace and it is on the way.” It doubles as a promise to oneself.
“Silver Tongue” is a co-write with the brothers and Justin Osborne of SUSTO. This has a catchy step down melody hook, and is another song of soul searching, this time set on a desolate beach, when “a man with a drifter’s tan started to preach / he said hey on the bright side nothing matters anyway.” The harmonies here are haunting and catchy somehow simultaneously.
One of the hallmarks of Brother Elsey is their ability to craft a song that’s authentic and grounded while at the same time climbing to breathless heights dispersing dreamscapes along the way. The songs are probing and honest as they delve into the raw crevices of the human psyche in struggle. This album is quite an accomplishment and is magical and sublime, yet also raw and real. You can find more details here: https://brotherelsey.komi.io/
Brother Elsey was mixed by Drew Long and mastered by Steve Fallone & Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound NJ Musicians on the album are Brady Stablein (vocals and guitar), Beau Stablein (bass), Jack Stablein (lead guitar), and Dalton Thomas (drums).