The very best albums, in my opinion, are the ones where artists lay their souls bare. Where they strip back all the artifice and leave themselves exposed and vulnerable. It’s rare to hear music that’s as raw as all that, but that’s just what we get on One For Sorry, Two For Joy, the stunning new album from London-based Aussie Brightly.
Brightly recorded the songs in an isolated cabin in Iceland during a harsh winter. I liked thinking about that background as I listened to the music, because the ice and snow seems so perfectly suited to these tracks. They have such a lush sound, with synths that wrap around Brightly haunting voice.
However rich the music is though, it never steals focus from the lyrics which are the true centrepiece of this album. I enjoyed listening to each song after reading the information about them Brightly penned for ToneDeaf last month. I found learning the background of each number made the listening experience that much more powerful.
“Rugby” contains some of the rawest, most honest lyrics I’ve ever heard, delivered in the way that only someone who’s lived the story can. The title track “One For Sorrow, Two For Joy (Beginnings & Endings)” is like a sucker punch. This poignant number deals with the death of a close friend after a music festival. Brightly originally wrote the song 10 years ago and has been tweaking it ever since to make sure it sounds just right. “Bury Us In Fruit Jars” was another song that really floored me. It tells the story of an arson attack at a gay bar in Los Angeles in 1973 and is especially powerful in the wake of the Orlando shooting at Pulse. “Oceans,” one of the lighter numbers on the album, is truly uplifting.
This album has so much heart. Its themes of death and loss are dealt with so thoughtfully. It’s intimate and vulnerable and everything the best albums should be.
One For Sorry, Two for Joy is available for digital download now. If you’re in London, you can catch Brightly launching it at The Social on July 15. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he’s back on home soil and we get some local shows.
After a big first show last year, the 
From the moment the opening strains of “The Valley” wafted through my speakers, I knew I was going to like Thieves, the latest album from 
With her sophomore album Blastoma, 
Last time around Richard was solo and acoustic, so I was excited to see him with a full band this time around. But before all that, Matt Cornell treated us with his musical stylings. I really appreciated his laidback blend of country and folk music. He’s such a talented songwriter, and honing in on his lyrics helped me truly appreciate what he was all about. I’m not sure he was the right fit for this crowd though. They seemed restless and so many of them chatted through his performance. Perhaps on a night sold on nostalgia, something more familiar would have been better received.
Or perhaps the crowd was just focused on the man they came to see, because they erupted for Richard Marx. “Endless Summer Nights” is the sort of song most artists would close with, but when you’ve had as many hits as Richard Marx you don’t need to keep anything in the tank. More smash singles followed, including “Take This Heart,” “Keep Coming Back,” and “Don’t Mean Nothing.” Richard informed us that he goes to enough shows to know what fans really want, and that new tracks would be kept to a minimum, to rapturous applause. I was thrilled to hear the new single “Last Thing I Wanted” though, a song which shows he still has a knack for crafting catchy tunes. He told us how thrilled he was that they’re playing it on stations that play Selena Gomez, when before he was only heard alongside artists like Bette Midler and Barry Manilow.
We all expected him to play “Hazard,” one of his biggest Australian hits. However, I’m not sure anyone anticipated Ronan Keating joining him on stage. I’m not sure the song really works as a duet, but the excitement Ronan’s appearance generated was something special. Personally, I was much more thrilled to see Jack Jones, the former singer of Southern Sons, on guitar for the night. I was in raptures when Richard told us he couldn’t let Jack go without hearing a little of “Lead Me to Water.” Jack’s voice sounds every bit as amazing as it did back in the day.
Another special moment came when Richard treated us to some of the many songs he’s written for other artists: the N*Sync song “This I Promise You,” Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father,” and Keith Urban’s “Long Hot Summer.” I didn’t realise Richard was behind these great songs, but hearing them sing them, it made perfect sense. I felt a little sorry for the folks who couldn’t quite hear when Richard became properly unplugged for “This I Promise You,” but honestly it was the best the audio sounded all night. The Enmore really has a lot to answer for in this regard. The performances of Richard and the band were on point all night, but the sound quality undermined their good work.