Monuments, one of Greenpoint, Brooklyn's best-loved bands, is celebrating the release of their sophomore album, Brigadune, due for release April 29, 2014 with an album release show May 9, 2014 at Cameo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Album Presale Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/brigadune/id844741827 Monuments Throws an End of the World Party: Teaser Video Directed by Chell Stephen https://vimeo.com/87597389
When Monuments front man Gabriel Berezin was writing the music for his new album's title track, the word 'Brigadune' appeared in his mind and stuck there. When Berezin looked it up, he found that in its familiar spelling the word was also the title of a popular musical, Brigadoon, a metaphorical story about two New Yorkers that travel to the highlands of Scotland and happen upon a utopian town that only exists for a day every hundred years. To his surprise, this musical he'd never heard of was a parable about the fleeting nature of perfection. Those themes so closely echoed the themes in his new music that Berezin and band members Grant Zubritsky and Robbie Sinclair realized they'd found the title of their new album.
In a twist of fate, Gabriel Berezin was late to his job at the World Trade Center on the morning of
September 11, 2001, thus his life was spared on that tragic day in lower Manhattan. Ever since, Berezin has been devoted to music in his search for meaning in chaos.
"A lot of these songs are about a paranoia of things falling apart," says Berezin, "from elusive consciousness, to the impermanence of personal relationships, to the fleeting appeals of cults, to the stability of modern civilization."
Brigadune is a concept album, with meditations on paradox. Some of these include the need to feel accepted coupled with the discomfort of groupthink, and living one moment in fear that society will crumble followed quickly by the excitement of getting sucked into the singularity. Berezin also ponders what it's like to get older without starting a family while questioning the significance relationships have in the modern age. He tries to accept the illusion of control over his consciousness, only to find he is terrified at the places his mind goes in idle moments.
When it came time to make the record Berezin and multi-instrumentalist Grant Zubritsky (Nina Persson of The Cardigans, MSMR) co-wrote the music and played most of the parts. They recruited songwriter and drummer Robby Sinclair (Lazer Cake) to round out the sound, along with several guest musicians including Bryan Murray on saxophone (St. Vincent & David Byrne), Alistair Paxton on guitar (Stapleton), and Kamara Thomas on vocals (Earl Greyhound). The album was mix engineered by Bob Mallory (Kings of Leon, Bruno Mars).
The music of
Monuments falls into a number of categories that include indie and alternative and sometimes psych rock. Monuments' sound is similar to the persistent train of an old Allman Brothers show if they added analog synthesizers and electronic beats.
Monuments is inspired by
Peter Gabriel in his approach to crafting a specific message and feel of a song, but they don't shy away from aggressive guitar riffs like early Led Zeppelin or high belting vocals ala Jeff Buckley. The band considers itself to be socially conscious but grounded in personal experience, like
Pearl Jam and Neil Young, without agenda.
Brigadune comes out on April 29th, and
Monuments is holding an album release show at Cameo Gallery on May 9th.
Track List:
1. Hypnagogia
2. Get A Grip
3. You Decide
4. We Decide
5. Soon
6. Bonfire
7. Sole Provider
8. Gift
9. Guard Rail
10. Brigadune
MONUMENTS is:
Gabriel Berezin (vocals, guitars)
Grant Zubritsky (bass, synthesizers, guitars)
Robby Sinclair (drums, percussion)
Guests:
Frank LoCrasto (piano, synthesizers)
Amal Bouhabib (vocals)
Alistair Paxton (guitars)
Bryan Murray (saxophone)
Jeff Malinowski (vocals)
Kamara Thomas (vocals)
Richard Feynman (physics)
Bob Mallory (mix engineer)
Mike Judeh (recording engineer)
Julian Silva (mastering engineer)
Matthew Maroulakos (recording engineer, studio head)
Produced by Grant Zubritsky & Gabriel Berezin
All lyrics written by Gabriel Berezin
All music written by Gabriel Berezin & Grant Zubritsky
Drum arrangement in "You Decide" by Mike Cook
Recorded at
The Den in New Jersey & Gabe's Apartment in Greenpoint, Bk
Cover Art: Tracy Maurice
Logo Design: Dan Redding
Find
Monuments online:
http://monumentsmusic.com/
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