Guitars out, synths in for alt-rocker
Who?
No, not that James Brown! It’s James Adrian Brown – though you may also have heard of him before. The British musician and songwriter is the former bassist in alt-rockers Pulled Apart By Horses, but left the band early last year to pursue his own solo electronic endeavours.
Why James Adrian Brown?
Influenced by the likes of Boards Of Canada, Nathan Fake and Rival Consoles, Brown is a self-proclaimed fan of analogue. He works with physical instruments and hardware, making excellent use of synths and tape machines to stamp his own mark on huge, atmospheric walls of sound. Ambient swirls and cascading synth lines are spread thickly on tracks like 2021 single ‘Everything Follows’, while twinkling electronics drip into the warm lagoon of noise on last year’s ‘Cadence’. There’s also the gorgeously cinematic ‘Church Of First’, a collaboration with renowned composer Benson Taylor. With a couple of vinyl releases due on Castles In Space in the next couple of months, Brown’s exciting sonic journey looks set to continue.
Tell Us More…
Brown admits that he was starting to find his limitations with guitar, whereas synths were opening up a whole new world to him. “Electronic music was something that was beginning to pull my attention away from guitars for a couple of years before recording the last Pulled Apart By Horses album,” he says. “A producer we’d worked with turned my guitar solo off on a song and brought down an original MS-20. We replaced the guitar line with oscillating synth drones, and I pretty much immediately fell in love. When lockdown came along, it was the perfect opportunity to dive into my basement, lock the door and mess around with my laptop and some synths.” And boy, are we glad he did.
‘Church Of First’ is out on Analog Horizons
