Brooke Bentham - Everyday Nothing

Brooke Bentham’s debut album Everyday Nothing was released today and it’s one that I’ve been waiting for a while now. I first heard Bentham’s music when she supported Soccer Mommy on tour in 2018 and I was mesmerized for the whole set, it was just her and a guitar on stage but her voice captured me completely. This is something that has stayed with me since then, especially as I became obsessed with her music, in particular The Room Swayed EP. So, as you can imagine I was excited for this release.

Brooke Bentham’s voice is hypnotizing; at least to me anyway, it’s the thing that I know I’ll keep going back to. This album will get multiple listens for that alone, but there are other things of course that make this album into the dreamy late night album it is. I love the electric guitar throughout this album; I think the difference it makes that the guitar is electric and not acoustic is key to so many of the moods created on this album. It’s not overpowering though and I really like that. I don’t think the album would’ve worked as well if there was too much of an element, so I think both Bentham and Bill Ryder Jones who helped produce this album have done a good job there with the dynamics.

You can feel the emotion clearly in this album. The crescendo’s throughout especially in the vocal performance help to create this too and it makes you feel the emotion too. I find this with most of Brooke Bentham’s music, it’s very emotional both musically and lyrically. The lyrics are very descriptive and personal, about feelings, situations and people. Another element that adds to this is the layering of her voice to create harmonies, while not being overpowering and still creating space in the music. It has an ethereal feel to it.

The album has a continuous feel to it, possibly because of the fact that to some the album may feel to ‘same-y’ as there’s not too much change in styles of song. But I think as a whole it works. Try listening to this album with no distractions. Though there may not be much variety on the album, there are subtle changes within certain songs that show great potential for future releases too. I think the simplicity of a track like ‘Without’ works really well, yet contrasts to the power that you get in ‘Control’ definitely one of my favourite songs on the album.

‘Control’ is a song where I really feel the emotion coming from the performance. The slightly heavier guitar sounds and pedal effects really work here to accentuate this. The build up to the crescendo on this track is flawless and I love the different vocal harmonies and slight changes we hear throughout to reach that crescendo. It’s not a song I’ll be getting tired of any time soon.

My stand out tracks from the album are Perform For You, High, Control, Telling Lies, My Baby Lungs.

This is an album definitely worth your time.

Listen to Everyday Nothing here.

Thanks.