“Creating
beautiful music enhanced
by heartfelt lyrics, singer-songwriter
David Bronson spent a number of
years writing, producing and recording
before finishing a twenty-two song
cycle and has now released his first
album, Story...”
COLLECTIVELY CALLED THE LONG LOST STORY, multi- talented singer-songwriter
David Bronson's twenty-two fabulous songs have been divided between two albums
and he is to release the first, Story, on 7 January (2013).
A highly-personal project for this New York City-based artiste, Story
has been described as a gorgeous, sophisticated and intricately creative project.
Indeed, David's superb, gravelly voice is well suited to his poetic offerings
— poignant and yet uplifting.
“With insightful lyrics
of heartfelt thoughts,
David Bronson’s Story
is a terrific vocal
and musical accomplishment”
Story
shines with numerous classic influences; from Neil Young to George Harrison's
solo material, but with the looseness and experimentation that is also the premise
of modern converts to the folk-rock sound. Think bands such as Grizzle Bear,
Band of Horses and latter-day Iron & Wine.
This multi-faceted project clearly has numerous levels of meaning as metaphors
of artistic creation, the passage of time, completion and resolution are all
relevant to the album.
On the surface, the tracks begin with a description of a young man's loss of
hope and identity as he suffers the pains of a lost love and continue through
the prolonged, arduous and life-changing journey to rediscover both himself
and that hope.
David explains his dedication as he worked through the project's dual-emotional
trajectories as: "It became all-consuming and a real test, of sorts."
The album has a very live sound, as if the listener is genuinely part of the
deal. Really pleasant to listen to, when the music recedes you can hear how
well David's voice holds the tune, especially on the magnificent and wistful
If.
Some very interesting musical arrangements here. The Ones is a racy,
challenging number; the lovely Us is gently evocative and as David works
through the layers it is as if you can sense his emotions changing, echoing
Bronson's intense desire to produce a full-bodied exploration of his inner-life.
The glorious Adrift is one of a number of tracks that features the vocals of
Maria Neckam, percussion, a Wurlitzer and a Glockenspiel, taking it to a new
dimension. Watch The Sun and Unending (Underture) are also fine
tracks.
With insightful lyrics of heartfelt thoughts, David Bronson's Story is
a terrific vocal and musical accomplishment, beautifully presented with a wonderfully
peaceful mural by Jeremy Bronson of mountains, a winding river and trees.
Nothing — not even David being an indie musician with a tight budget —
gets in the way of Story's large and expressive scope. Although it was
originally meant as one record, it became clear to David that the album represented
not just the end of a relationship but growth itself, and the project itself
needed to grow with that realisation.
He explains: "It became a metaphor and conduit for everything I was feeling
in my inner life and I put everything into it. I indulged myself to get everything
the way I wanted; the art of it became the only thing that mattered." And the
result is the perfect Story.
Story is written, produced and arranged by David Bronson, and was mixed
and assisted with the finishing by legendary producer and mix-engineer Godfrey
Diamond (Lou Reed, Aerosmith, Sparks).
* David Bronson's new album Story, Part 1 of The Long Lost Story,
is released on CD on 7 January 2013.
"With insightful lyrics of heartfelt thoughts, David Bronson's Story
is a terrific vocal and musical accomplishment" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“Creating
beautiful music enhanced