Dark music shouldn’t make you happy, should it? Wrestling with your moods while listening to music is a curious craft. It’s usually the mood that dictates the music your listening to but, more often than not, the music can take your moods on a furious ride like a dandelion seed in the wind. Gabriel Bruce is a British artist who’s been huffing and puffing on my dandelion eardrums while refusing to let go of my ears. Then again, I’m not exactly trying to escape like Steve McQueen.
“Sleep Paralysis” is a dark and brooding track that erupts around the 2:50 mark with dramatic percussion intensifying the omnipresent beat. Bruce’s style is unique, reminding me of Matthew Dear mixed with vocals that sound like a raw version of Matt Berninger from The National. Bruce knows how to take the scenic route to creating chilling sounds too, mixing glitchy percussion, accessible melodies, and organs with his baritone voice to create an atmosphere straight out of a macabre Edgar Allen Poe tale. You can hear/download Bruce’s lighter side with track “Cupid” below, I’ll be watching both sides closely from this point forward.
