And so, Daisy was released without a fuss, without a marketing strategy and with fightoffyourdemons still ‘under construction’. Being their 4th album, and their second major label release, there was no major announcements unless you were on the inside. But it’s all the better for it, those who are on the inside feel blessed to live in a time of such a special band.The band in question are Brand New.Daisy was released 2 weeks ago and slipped quietly into the billboard top 10.
They’ve played Glastonbury this year in addition to the main stage at Reading so they had 2 routes to choose from. The first route would follow Kings Of Leon, after some critically acclaimed albums, make a stadium pop/rock record and go interstellar whilst possibly alienating their core fan base. Luckily, they’ve retained their integrity and taken the second option.Brand New’s sound has been honed and Daisy can stand alone amongst their other masterpieces. Upon the first listen, I wasn’t sure what was going on.
The album starts with a post-war era choral interlude before exploding into their heaviest song yet-Vices. The track only has 2 minutes left to run but leaves you with baited breath. ‘At The Bottom’ is the obvious choice as a single but you only realise this because you’ve heard it before. Therein lies the beauty of Daisy. It is a ‘grower’. First time listeners will be turned off by it’s inaccessibility but Brand New veterans will return again and again to lap up the textures being painted by Lacey, Accardi et al.
This should keep everyone happy, hardcore fans don’t lose THEIR band to the masses, first time listeners will be instantly turned off (unless they put the effort in and actually listen to the record), Brand New make enough sales to justify making album no 5, and the world carries on turning as normal.After a few listens the whole album makes so much sense.
Accardi has been responsible for most of the songwriting and there is a noticeable shift in the narrative but their sound remains consistent. They fuse the quiet/loud/quiet formula with such precision and timing that they are making certain influences (pixies, nirvana) proud. The sprint from tracks 1-4 slows for ‘You Stole’ but even this ends in a crescendo of guitars. Hints of bluegrass and other forgotten genres remind us that these guys are actually musicians instead of mere rock stars.
‘Bought A Bride’ sounds like Nirvana on steroids; and yes, that is a massive statement!The title track brings in extra production that hasn’t been heard on a Brand New record before and shows their progression in the studio as well as songwriters.They also break the tradition of including an acoustic finale with the inclusion of the 6 minute+
‘Noro’. A fitting finale and a final note for the time being. The only gripe is that after 3 years, we’ve only been blessed with a 40 minute album. Let’s hope some of their studio sessions get leaked because we don’t know if and when the next album will be!
