Bruno Major Unveils First New Single in Three Years 'We Were Never Really Friends'
The track was released alongside a Kassy Mahea-directed music video.
By: Michael Major May. 05, 2023
U.K. singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bruno Major reveals his new single "We Were Never Really Friends'' and an accompanying music video via Harbour Artists & Music / AWAL Recordings. He also announces a run of international tour dates spanning the rest of the year. Tickets go on sale on May 12th and may be purchased HERE.
"We Were Never Really Friends" marks Bruno's first release since his album To Let a Good Thing Die in 2020. The track opens as a gentle piano ballad, nothing more than his plaintive vocals and the instrument-and then the drums come in and the song explodes open as he sings of the heartfelt blurring of friendship and romance and its inevitable messy aftermath. It's a classic rock song, in the vein of McCartney and Lennon (complete with guitar solo), and it's studded with eye-catching details and frank emotions, like a crashed Mercedes and an unreturned plea to come home.
The Kassy Mahea-directed music video for "We Were Never Really Friends" is a dreamlike flashback through the eyes of Bruno. Featuring expansive, coastal Californian landscapes, the cinematic visuals follow the course of a relationship - fraught with overwhelming infatuation followed by an equally spectacular downfall, ending with a vintage Mercedes in flames.
"'We Were Never Really Friends' paints a picture of the blurry line between friends and lovers," Bruno explains. "Ostensibly lamenting the loss of a good friend, until the ultimate realization arrives that it was always something more."
Marking a triumphant return to the stage after his 2020 tour was canceled due to COVID, Bruno will kick off an expansive headlining tour in Tokyo on August 8th, making his way through major cities in Southeast Asia before heading back to the United States for a night in Denver, CO on September 4th.
Over the next two months he'll tour the US before beginning the European leg of his ambitious journey, in Cologne, Germany on November 8th. The tour will conclude on November 23rd in his hometown of London. See below for the full tour routing.
More to come from Bruno Major in 2023.
UPCOMING HEADLINING TOUR DATES:
August 8 - Tokyo, Japan - WWW X
August 11 - Seoul, South Korea - YES24 Live Hall
August 13 - Bangkok, Thailand - Voice Space
August 15 - Manila, Philippines - Samsung Performing Arts Theater
August 17 - Singapore, Singapore - Capitol Theatre
August 19 - Jakarta, Indonesia - GBK Basketball Hall
August 20 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Zepp Kuala Lumpur
September 4 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
September 5 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
September 7 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
September 8 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox @ The Market
September 9 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
September 11 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
September 14 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
September 15 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
September 16 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
September 18 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
September 19 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
September 20 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
September 22 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
September 23 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl
September 25 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
September 26 - Toronto, ON - HISTORY
September 29 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
September 30 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner
October 1 - Washington, DC - The Howard Theatre
November 8 - Cologne, DE - CBE
November 9 - Berlin, DE - Kesselhaus
November 11 - Antwerp, BE - Trix
November 12 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
November 14 - Paris, FR - Le Trabendo
November 17 - Glasgow, UK - Saint Luke's
November 18 - Manchester, UK - Academy 2
November 21 - Dublin, IE - Vicar Street
November 23 - London, UK - O2 Forum Kentish Town
ABOUT BRUNO MAJOR:
The word "authenticity" has become ubiquitous when describing artists and musicians today, but when you encounter Bruno Major, you understand just how misused that term has become. Bruno has ascended the ranks to become, by many definitions, a globally influential artist, but has done so entirely on his own terms.
The antihero of music stardom, Bruno has been completely uncompromising in his craft, creating unrivaled lyrical landscapes that don't conform to the musical status quo of today, but still deeply resonate with fans, as evidenced by his billion stream career, propelled by viral hits "Nothing" and "Easily."
Bruno splices classic singer-songwriter confessionals with sleek modern electronic production, girding the entire enterprise with hints of soul. His dedication to sincerity and immediacy in his craft was solidified via his 2017 debut record A Song For Every Moon.
Recorded and released independently, the record gained powerful word-of-mouth momentum internationally with key single "Easily" RIAA-certified Platinum in North America. Its 2020 follow-up, To Let a Good Thing Die was similarly far reaching, a beautifully crafted tapestry of stories of human relationships, love and heartbreak, and existential musings; one single, "The Most Beautiful Thing," emerged from a special co-writing session with producer and pop luminary FINNEAS, and another standout track "Nothing" is RIAA-certified Gold in North America. Across the two albums, Bruno has amassed over 1.5 billion collective streams to date.
Bruno is trained as a classical guitarist and has earned support from the likes of Sam Smith, Billie Eilish, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Lianne La Havas, Hailey Bieber, and Kourtney Kardashian, to name a few.
Prior to the pandemic, he toured extensively, selling over 50,000 headline tickets, made his TV debut on the Late Late Show with James Corden, his festival debut at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, and opened for Sam Smith's European arena tour. Now in 2023, as he divides his time between London and Los Angeles, he prepares for his first release in three years-his most ambitious album yet.
Photo Credit: Neil Krug
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