Bruno Mars, Italian guys and pizza joints can make way for a new Bruno — Bruno Major.
The North-London-based artist, who broke out onto the music scene in 2013 with his single “Home,” is ensuring with his most recent work that when you search“Bruno” on Google — between the “Uptown Funk” music video and the trailer for a particular Sacha Baron Cohen movie — you’ll find some good music that, according to a Spotify playlist, will evoke “All The Feels.”
After taking a partial hiatus from music for the past three years with some singles and Frank Ocean covers released sparingly in between, Major has made a return with a refined sound, more inventive lyrics and a much larger fan base.
The artist’s first full-length album, “A Song for Every Moon,” is already halfway done, but is not set for release until July 2017. The album name isn’t just symbolic either; Major takes the name “A Song for Every Moon” completely literally. The songs on the album are being released on each full moon, and with each release, a silver sliver is added to the album art, slowly creating a zodiac-like lunar calendar that will be complete on the full album.
The album, the construction of which began six months ago with the release of “Wouldn’t Mean a Thing,” thus far is the marriage of seven unique love songs. They each tackle the topic in a different manner, each have a different pace and each encompass a completely different genre, yet they all create a feeling that leaves you eagerly awaiting the next full moon.
The 2016 single “Easily” — the record’s most popular track thus far — talks about trying to save a relationship that’s falling apart. The record’s second most-popular single, “Home,” depicts home as being where the heart is, and the record’s first single, “Wouldn’t Mean a Thing,” is about the lack of joy in life without a lover. These topics — as overdone and cliche as they are — Major transforms into completely unique pieces of lyricism and feeling on his new record. He does not describe love through physical description, late night phone calls or simply saying the L-word over and over. Instead, he says: “I’ll be the wind picking up your sail.” He says that he “could climb the Himalayan Mountains or the pyramids in West Peru” for his beloved. And he says love could “unflood him with malice ’til the river’s running red.” Though he makes use of metaphors and allegories that are oftentimes too complicated or erudite for love songs, he makes them feel uncomplicated and in doing so is able to complicate the often undemanding genre of love song.
On top of his ingenuity, his impressive vocal range and instrumental arrangements make each of his singles memorable. “Easily” is dominated by layered vocals, snapping fingers and guitar strums intermixed with precisely placed silence; “Wouldn’t Mean a Thing” at times is filled by a choir of hums rather than Major’s own voice; and “The First Thing You See” is an acoustic song that takes a trip through the music editing program it desperately needed. Instead of saving the best for last and completing his album with a bang in July, it increasingly appears as though every song he releases intends to be that bang. Every 29 1/2 days — just when you think there’s going to be a flop — you’re tapping your foot to another song for the next month.
With a Facebook Page and Twitter feed dominated by friends from London and a Soundcloud account with a measly 2,800 followers, Major should enjoy his last days of anonymity. Three of his songs have already shot into the millions of listens on Spotify, and soon people will start to take notice of a Bruno who doesn’t have the last name “Mars” — if they haven’t already.
In other words, if you’re really into your zodiac sign and horoscopes, if you want to be the friend that knows about that “hipster” artist before he gets big, if you like listening to songs that make you think about your ex and how you were too good for them, if you’re an aspiring expatriate and like listening to artists that aren’t from America or if you’re simply a fan of great heartbreak music, then you should definitely check out Bruno Major. At this rate, you will only have a couple of months left of being a hipster.
