Brontë Fall Doubles Down On Her Creative Life With New Single 'Making It Up'

Brontë Fall has just dropped her latest single. “Making It Up” is a renewal of vows of sorts; to living the artist’s life and everything that goes along with it.

“When it’s all said and done, I wouldn’t trade this creative life for anything,” says songwriter Teri Bracken—better known by her stage name Brontë Fall. “I wrote this song midway through 2021 after the music industry had been halted so dramatically from the pandemic,” remembers Fall. “Before March 2020, I was feeling depleted and rundown from the hustle of being an artist. But then after having it taken away from me for an extended period of time, I began to miss it.”

A simmering alt-pop ode that finds a middle ground between Sheryl Crow and Kacey Musgraves, “Making It Up”–co-written with Hadley Kennary–finds Fall singing about real life road escapades: dancing around beers and cables on stage, staring at a half-empty tip jar highlighted by a five-dollar beer she put in herself. But the message of the song is evident. There’s no other life for Fall. During the chorus, she stands firmly on this world she’s created, proud of the little wins and big victories that make her career the most fulfilling gig on Earth. “Piece by piece I’m creating the life I want / It might not be the right way, but I’m not gonna stop.” She concludes: “I’m making it up as I go.”

More About Brontë Fall:

Teri Bracken’s career as Brontë Fall began almost accidentally. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs had always been a music obsessive, dreaming of forming her own bands and playing on stages. While working as the “door girl” at an indie music venue in Chicago, a chance opportunity allowed her to book her first gig as an artist. She quickly came up with a band name (honoring her favorite writers, the Brontë sisters), compiled all the original songs she had, and never, ever looked back. Bracken’s road to acclaimed songwriter began in childhood, when she picked up piano at age 7. Classical violin lessons soon followed, and eventually she was tapped as the singer/violinist in a college rock band with a group of nineties rock loving frat boys. After leaving the guys, she further pursued her passion for violin playing at Berklee, which is where she fell in love with songwriting once and for all. Bracken eventually made her way to Nashville—a dream come true considering it is a songwriter’s mecca.  

Though most of her instrumental focus is on guitar these days for pure convenience sake, Bracken still brings out her violin and even performs on piano during her shows—she never sings a note empty handed. These live shows and releases have earned her plenty of praise, with Music Mecca noting: "Finding beauty at the end is what Brontë Fall seems to always know how to do and listeners get to follow her journey alongside her.” PopMatters added: “It’s her voice that catches one’s attention and makes one want to sing along for the pure joy of it.”   

After a family tragedy struck in 2022, Bracken rededicated herself to her craft, emerging with plenty of scar tissue and a batch of new songs that she considers her best yet. That lineup is highlighted by "Woman Like Me.” The track is both a reminder of Fall’s skills as a songwriter and a significant leap forward in both sound and style. It’s a defining statement, the culmination of years grinding for a shot and, at the same time, a new beginning.