Bressie to set the 'Trend' in Solar

Bressie will be in Navan on Saturday 5th July to launch the Solar's new Saturday night club, 'Trend'.

A year and a half after Bressie’s debut album Colourblind Stereo earned him an iTunes number one and two number ones at Irish radio, he returns with a new album – and a new sound.

Gone are the shiny synths and big pop choruses that defined the first LP, instead Rage & Romance has a subtlety that confidently underplays Bressie’s natural gift for melody – one that’s teased out by co-writer James Walsh (he of Starsailor fame) and producer Eliot James (responsible for the debut albums of Two Door Cinema Club and Bloc Party).

It’s quite the difference, borne from the benefit of hindsight. While Colourblind Stereo gave Bressie critical and commercial acclaim, and a place on The Voice of Ireland coaching panel, it suffered from the weight of expectation. Explains Bressie: “I released the first single ‘Can’t Stay Young Forever’ before I’d written the album, so when that got to number one on the airplay charts - which is rare enough for an Irish act - I naturally felt compelled to go in that direction.”

This time around, he made sure he had no preconceptions when it came to a new direction.

“Luckily I had a record company who didn’t have a gun to my head saying ‘do that again’,” he says. “The only forethought was working with James – who makes brilliant melodies – and Eliot, who’s known for making strong alternative albums, without diluting my own pop sensibilities. I’ve never gone into the studio with a blank slate before but I wanted to see what we could create together.”

Two months later, the trio emerged from Eastcote Studios in London with the album written and recorded. But it wasn’t an easy task - there was plenty of graft and skill involved in this musical exploration. Lead track Show Me Love is the perfect example, its glam-rock riffs are presented atop a pulsating undercurrent that’s unmistakably 2013. Elsewhere, the uber-cool alternative feel of the title track Rage & Romance might come as a surprise to casual fans – it’s an alluring monster of an alt track, its pop sensibilities well disguised by Eliot’s lassiez-faire production.

Bressie explains: “With that song, the riff is out of time, but it’s groovy as fuck. If you were doing a pop record, we would have aligned it and polished it up to the grid, but we wanted something more organic and less processed and programmed.”

Meanwhile, the heartfelt I Preferred The Original proves the album’s breadth by starting off with a lush string section arrangement, before the understated melancholy takes over.

The song derived from an idea that Bressie had for his The Voice of Ireland charge, Conor Quinn. And indeed, his place on the panel is intrinsically linked with his musical projects.

He earned his seat, not only thanks to his solo career, but also due to his role at Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment in developing new artists on their roster. And his ability to unlock talent continues – he’s the reigning coach on The Voice of Ireland, having mentored the inaugural winner Pat Byrne, and the two continue to share a close songwriting relationship. The show has proved fruitful artistically, being one of four high-profile coaches, Bressie has had to adjust to a new level of fame, which has been a learning curve for the singer.

 “When the programme first aired I kept getting recognised to an extent that I’d never before encountered, losing my relative level of anonymity definitely took an adjustment period for me and my family”Bressie admits. “I found it really surprising at first, it certainly took me a while to adapt as I’m normally a very private person.”

Mullingar star Bressie first came to the fore as a promising rugby player, and his profile upped with ska-pop rockers The Blizzards, who achieved two top five albums in naughties before his solo career took off and made him even more recognisable (though you wouldn’t fail to notice a 6’ 6” strapping lad like himself anyway). But nothing prepared him for the change in his life after The Voice of Ireland, which may in some way explain the anxiety that resulted – and that defines Rage & Romance lyrically.

“At first I didn’t know what it was,” he recounts. “I wasn’t able to sleep, and it was like someone was constantly sitting on my chest, I knew that what I was feeling was irrational, but when you are feeling that level of anxiousness rational and perspective become irrelevant.”

He was diagnosed with anxiety, intent on avoiding the darker side of the spell, he decided to concentrate his lyrics on how he felt as he entered the studios in October 2012

He explains: “The lyrics trade more on the positive aspects – they’re about getting over it.

I came out of it by doing all the things they say is good for your mental health, like keeping busy, doing exercise,surrounding myself with positive people and most importantly talking about itand through these changes I soon learnt how to deal with the anxious feelings and work through them.

“A lot of people hide it, but I thought it was important to use it as a tool for creativity to fuel the sentiment of the songs and to get it out there; to write about it,” he continues.

Silence is Your Saviour and Two’s A Crowd, illustrates that hiding your issues and refusing to embrace them and talk about them will ultimately become an obstacle in getting over them.

“What I want to say in these songs is that totally normal to go through periods in your life where changes come and can cause anxiety and for some people depression, life throws difficult times for all of us, no one is superhuman, it’s nothing to be ashamed of or something you should hide, as soon as you realise that you are finding life hard to cope with then talk about it and face the problem head on, there are always people there to help”.

For the release – and for the second series of The Voice of Ireland - Bressie returned to Ireland from his adopted home in London. Given Bressie’s strong live reputation (last year’s tour had to be extended threefold to cope with demand) he is also returning to touring in Ireland.

“The new songs will make for a punchier set,” Bressie promises. “This album is much more raw, so it’s going to translate into a live show brilliantly.” The current plan is to return to London in the Summer - but that’s dependent on a number of factors. He explains: “I’m undertaking a series of triathlons for LARCC, the cancer charity run by my mother. So what I do over summer depends if I can still walk!”