BRIELLE BROWN, In Art & Soil The Same

The term “Renaissance woman” is a convenient phrase, probably bandied about too much, to describe someone who’s pretty much done it all, but it’s probably the best way to capture the multi-faceted background the multi-talented Brielle Brown brings to her highly impactful ongoing emergence as a folk/Amercana singer/songwriter.

Her fascinating resume begins with a BFA in Theatre, a Certificate in Creative Arts Therapies from The New School University and being an alumnus of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. It also includes being a certified early childhood educator, creative director, music therapist, artist development executive for contestants on show like American Idol and The Voice, co-managing the indie label Monocentric Music with her songwriter/producer husband Marc Swersky and serving on the Steering Committee for the Louis Armstrong for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel.  

Building on the momentum, critical acclaim and accolades she received for her award-winning 2021 EP The Well, Brielle artfully fuses deep social consciousness with a soulful and bluesy Americana roots/folk aesthetic on her full-length debut In Art & Soil the Same. In my review of The Well, I called her a “reflective and soulfully philosophical singer-songwriter” and used the adjectives “intensely heartfelt and empowering” to describe the six-track recording. My passion for the musically and vocally earthy but spiritually transcendent magic of that work was shared by many, including Indieshark Music magazine, which chose it was 2021 Album of the Year.

Titled after a fascinating line one of those rave reviews of The Well, In Art & Soil the Same is, to Brielle, “about us and the stories we tell, and retell over time, that shape our very existence. It’s about the delicate closeness of grief and suffering, of the memories stored and storied in our bodies and land, and of quiet power. Coming out of the pandemic years, I feel like we are in desperate need to return to the embodiment of our connection to nature. I wrote it with a deep yearning to return to an embodied self in such a disembodied world. The songs are my offering, a container, and hopefully a bridge to tell your own story.”

While Brielle has a lifetime of insight and experiences to draw from as a songwriter, it’s interesting to note that she wrote most of the pieces on the album during a life-changing 15-month fellowship with The Witness Institute - a project founded by Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger and Elisha Wiesel dedicated to continuing the work of Elisha’s father Elie Wiesel. By studying Elie Wiesel’s life and legacy, and the important themes and methods to which he returned again and again, in a nurturing and supportive environment, leaders with high potential to influence society will become morally empowered people who will influence their communities. The Witness Fellows program aims to activate and empower leaders to act with humility, reflection and sensitivity, and in turn, influence their communities towards meaningful moral action. Notably, they started their meetings with a blessing.

Brielle laid the deeply emotional, thought-provoking groundwork for the collection with three lead singles, any of which make perfect entry points into the alternately meditative/introspective and rousing/triumphant experience. Co-written with Swersky, whose major pop credits include Joe Cocker, Hilary Duff and Natalie Cole, the opening track “Blessing” speaks to the significant role that music and art play in social and moral change. At its core, the song is a powerful testimony to hope, art and love – perfectly capturing Brielle’s core messaging that “Art is a savior, and far from being a mere luxury, music is an essential part of human existence, something we cannot live without.”

While the singer’s lyrics never mention the word “blessing,” they are a source of inspiration and encouragement during difficult times and dark nights of our individual and collective souls. Brielle sings, “When the story breaks, you don’t cry/When the hands they shake, you don’t cry/When you fall from grace, you don’t cry.” Then, turning towards the light, and encouraging every voice to join in, in the next verse, she adds, “But when the bluebird sings you sing along/And it sounds like One for the generations/One for the conversation/One for the situation . . .May you still find peace in the dark/May you still find light in the fog.”

The second lead single, also the first Brielle penned for the album, is lyrical, penetratingly hypnotic “A New Sacred,” which could also be called “all the old gods” because she meditates so intently on that phrase as she expresses longing for something new, fresh and transcendent to believe in “to lead us to somewhere that’s truly free” at a time where we’ve got “blood on our hands.” The third previously released track,” “Get Back to the Garden,” balances the introspective balladry with a rousing yet heartfelt, gospel-infused romp about conflict resolution and the cyclical nature of history featuring the backing vocals of The Carlile Family Band.

Another focal track near and dear to Brielle’s musical heart is the richly poetic, breathlessly bluesy “Tethered,” a fascinating musical expression about the role of serving as a witness in the climate crisis and specifically the enduring connection between the passing of a storyteller and climate change. Loosely inspired by the book Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, the song inspires us to think, “What stories will allow us to challenge the way we live before it’s too late?” Her heartrending repetition of “tick tock tick” at the end offers an ominous countdown to the potential end of humanity as the crisis worsens.

In addition to “Blessing,” Brielle and Swersky’s co-writes include the spiritually provocative folk-flavored acoustic gem “Hymn In C” (which purposefully juxtaposes lines like “We are just learning to die” with “Throw in a line of hope”) and the high energy, stomping gospel fired pop-rock closer “Beautiful Resistance,” a song of redemption that promises “heaven ain’t far from where we are today.” Fans of late 80’s pop will also enjoy the soulful, bluesy twist Brielle puts on Don Henley’s relationship post-mortem classic “The Heart of the Matter,” included as a bonus track.    

In addition to The Carlile Family Band, In Art and Soil The Same features Michelle Moore and Anthony Almonte from the E-Street Band on vocals and percussion, and musicians Aaron Comes (Spin Doctors), Rob Clores (Joan Osbourne, The Black Crowes), Vin Landolfi (Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly). The album was recorded and engineered by Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz, Beyonce, Sara Bareilles) and mixed by Seth Von Paulus (Smashing Pumpkins, Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry).