HOW BEAUTY HOLDS THE HAND OF SORROW’s finds Brun returning to her early work’s intimate poignancy, its nine tracks opening with the piano-led ‘Last Breath’ and concluding with a piano-only interpretation of After The Great Storm’s ‘Don’t Run And Hide’, while ‘Lose My Way’ finds her joined by Oscar-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer Dustin O’Halloran (also of A Winged Victory For The Sullen) and ‘Closer’ occupies territory somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. She picks up her acoustic guitar for ‘Meet You At The Delta’ and ‘Breaking The Surface’, and ‘Song For Thrill And Tom’’s luminous buoyancy is meanwhile boosted by angelic backing vocals from Jennie Abrahamson, Linnea Olsson, Therese Börjesson and Carolina Wallin Perez. Nestling at the album’s heart, furthermore, lies the simply magical ‘Trust’.
“Both albums deal with the bigger questions in life,” says Brun, “but in 2020 these questions have become even bigger. Even though I wrote most of them before this whole pandemic started, I feel they all have a message that fits the situation we’re in…”
HOW BEAUTY HOLDS THE HAND OF SORROW is Brun’s ninth album, mostly written in the Norwegian mountains during summer 2019. It was largely recorded at Stockholm’s Atlantis Studios and Studio Bruket, home to Tonbruket and the studio where musician and co-producer Martin Hederos – who also co-wrote a number of songs – and Studio Bruket’s own house sound technician Anton Sundell reside. The album was produced by Brun, Hederos and Sundell.
Release Date: November 27, 2020
Tracklist:
1.Last Breath
2.Closer
3.Song For Thrill And Tom
4.Meet You At The Delta
5.Trust
6.Gentle Wind of Gratitude
7.Breaking the Surface
8.Lose My Way (ft. Dustin O’Halloran)
9.Don’t Run and Hide (piano version)
OVERALL RATING: 4½ stars
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