Altai - “Brawl”
Photo by Jordy Lane
Altai, based in New South Wales, Australia, has just released the lush, sonically thoughtful dream pop track “Brawl.”
“Brawl” is an incredibly immersive track that pulls you in to a reflective, unrelenting sense of motion from the very first notes. You would not feel out of place playing “Brawl” at full volume driving carefree down the highway or lying in a field staring at blue skies. But it also gives a lush hint of darkness where it would also sound great listening to just staring out the window to a dusting of snow. It is in short, the perfect accompaniment to an introspective day.
Classic indie rock textures that inject tension and sublime, subtle shifts in mood run all through this track. Over the hypnotic drum beat the electric guitars foster a simmering, almost otherworldly atmospheric. Muted, weaving guitar lines bring to mind the textural guitar work of Andy Summers of The Police. Fluid, evocative swells of space hint at The Verve’s Nick McCabe. A lush, retro futuristic glaze is also lent by the sparingly used bursts of late 1970s melodic synth texture. These layers are deployed in the same stylish way Blondie used them on albums like Parallel Lines.
Altai grounds the track with an enchanting, nuanced, introspective vocal performance that feels like an elegant, gentle cross between Shilpa Ray and Chelsea Wolfe. Hushed, almost spoken, the performance is filled with a quiet intimacy that only beckons you deeper into the music.
On the track, Altai elaborates on the lyrically honest track: “I wanted to explore the complexities of masculinity and how society’s expectations of men can lead them down destructive paths. The lyrics are really raw and introduces a character who is shaped by his environment and macho persona. This is to illustrate the patriarchal pressures to suppress vulnerability leading to a vicious cycle of bad behaviour and poor life choices.”