Get Your Music on Amazon!
Get Your Music - and everything else - on Amazon! All purchases made on Amazon through this link earn a commission for Jesusfreakhideout.com!

JFH Music Review


Brooke Fraser, Brutal Romantic
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

Brooke Fraser
Brutal Romantic



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 10 tracks: 36 minutes, 58 seconds
Street Date: November 17, 2014


It has been 4 years since Brooke Fraser released her third album, Flags. Flags helped launch Fraser into an even broader audience, with her single "Something in the Water" being dubbed the Most Played New Zealand Song in the World for 2013-2014 by the APRA Silver Scroll Awards. Flags was received well by both critics and fans, and Fraser solidified her role as a folk-pop singer-songwriter. Or, so it would seem...

Over the past year, Fraser has given hints and glimpses of new music in the works, but fans did not hear her new sound until she debuted "Psychosocial" on Facebook via Soundcloud. The song was certainly different--never before has Fraser's voice been backed by tight, dark electronic beats and synths. The opening line, "I love your projection, but I don't love you" sets the tone for the song, which is a critique on the fickle and obsessive nature of people who use social media. In the second verse, though, we hear a piano emerge from the mix, reminding us that this is still the same Brooke Fraser.

"Psychosocial" is the lead track on Brutal Romantic, an album which is sinfully short at only 10 tracks long with a running time of 36 minutes and 58 seconds. In that short span of time, though, we hear some of Fraser's most unapologetic lyrics and a few of her finest musical moments. Fraser experiments with different sounds on Brutal Romantic, but the album remains cohesive. "Thunder" and "Kings and Queens" are both dance-floor worthy tracks. "Brutal Romance" tones down the electronic edge with the use of orchestral strings and a french horn. "New Histories" and "New Years Eve" have a wide, airy soundscape, where Fraser's voice is free to belt out high notes or whisper personal musings. We hear a distorted guitar usher us out of "Je Suis Pret," an anomaly in Brooke Fraser's catalogue of music.

Lyrically, Brutal Romantic contains some of the most challenging and encouraging lyrics for her listeners. It's this balance that warrants the album title "Brutal Romantic." "Psychosocial" and "Magical Machine" both provide thought-provoking observations about society's attachment to technology. "Thunder," "Start a War," and "Brutal Romance" testify to the power our words can have, echoing Proverbs 18:21. "Je Suis Pret" reminds us to be ready for when Christ returns: "See the tempest looking my way/Drain the skies of all their color...With a fire in my breast/Je suis pret/I am ready, I am ready." "Bloodrush" exhorts the listener to not wallow in sorrow, saying "Heed your own warning/Those tears in the night won't fall in the morning/You've got so much soul/You've got to get out and prove it to yourself!"

I thoroughly enjoyed Brutal Romantic and think it is a very brave and masterful effort from a well-regarded artist. However, the lyrics of "Magical Machine" are not quite on par with the rest of the album. This is a minor blip on the radar, though, and both fans and newcomers to Fraser's music will find plenty to enjoy on Brutal Romantic.

JFH Reader Review: Review date: 11/16/14, written by Nicole Marie Vacca for Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

 

. Record Label: INGROOVES / Vagrant
. Album length: 10 tracks: 36 minutes, 58 seconds
. Street Date: November 17, 2014
. Buy It: iTunes
. Buy It: Amazon Music (MP3)
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. Psychosocial (3:01)
  2. Thunder (3:39)
  3. Start a War (3:10)
  4. Kings and Queens (3:36)
  5. Bloodrush (3:40)
  6. Brutal Romance (4:45)
  7. Je suis prêt (4:25)
  8. Magical Machine (4:05)
  9. New Histories (3:39)
  10. New Year's Eve (2:58)

 



Leave a Comment

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

Search JFH



This Friday, March 28, 2025
ALBUMS
Anchor Hymns The Garden (Live) [Integrity]
Anike The Rap Pack - EP [Reach]
Mack Brock Beloved - EP [Centricity]
Eben Brusco Offering House - EP (independent)
Steve Camp Fire and Ice (Remastered Collector's Edition) [Girder]
CXMMXNS Chapter 2 - EP [Provident]
Lawrence Hancock Undefeated [LVP]
The Heritage HOME [Bowyer & Bow]
Memphis May Fire Shapeshifter [Rise]
Red Rocks Worship The King Is Coming [Provident]
Edwrin Sutton The Savior 1.0 (Volume 1) [Blacksmoke]

SINGLES
Big Daddy Weave I've Just Seen Too Much - Single [Curb]
Bongo Chico 1995 - Single (independent)
Kristin Chenoweth Live Like That (from "The King of Kings" Soundtrack) - Single [Angel Studios/Sony]
Disciple Resurrecting Reasons (feat. Decyfer Down) - Single [Tooth & Nail]
ELEVATION RHYTHM Sing Of Your Love (feat. Joe L Barnes) - Single [Elevation]
Good Weather Forecast Now I See It - Single [DREAM]
Lucy Grimble First Love - Single [Integrity]
JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise Lifted Up (ft. Tamela Hairston) - Single [Motown Gospel]
Jericko MANNA - Single [Syntax]
Kashh Kade RUNNING MAN - Single [Syntax]
Knaladeus Treasure (ft. C4 Crotona & Aciya Iona) - Single [Syntax]
Ronnie Martin Ever Sing For Joy - Single [Velvet Blue]
Miel San Marcos Digno De Adorar (Worthy Of It All) [feat. Waleska Morales] - Single [Integrity]
New Day Rhymes In Harmony - Single (independent)
Sam Purpose Turnaround - Single (independent)
Q-Flo & C4 Crotona The Plug Gotta Know God - Single [Syntax]
Smokey Robinson Three Little Birds / What A Wonderful World - Single [Gaither]
Sixpence None the Richer Julia (Live at Gruene Hall) - Single [Flatiron]
Sound Chapel Forever Amen - Single [Provident]
Sound Street I'm So Blessed - Single [Sonlite]
Switch Love Like This - Single (independent)
TKE3 LAHO 3MIX - Single (independent)
Madison Watkins You Won't - Single [Provident]
Wolves at the Gate Synthetic Sun - Single [Solid State]
The Young Escape Every Little Thing - Single [BEC]

Next Tuesday, April 1, 2025
SINGLES
Sleeping At Last Build - Single (independent)

Next Friday, April 4, 2025
ALBUMS
Faith Worship Arts Fill This House [DREAM Worship]
Silent Music Owl (independent)
TAYA The Reminder [Capitol CMG]

SINGLES
Free Worship Haz Tu Voluntad - Single [BEC]
Hunter Plake & River Valley AGES Presence is Peace - Single [BEC]
River Valley Worship Great and Lowly King - Single [BEC]
Jordan St. Cyr My Foundation (Acoustic) - Single [BEC]



For all release dates, click here!
 

Check out the newest JFH Metal compilation - FREE!
Get JFH's 13th free indie compilation now!
Check out depositphotos for royalty free images