Today, The Record Summer, aka songwriter Bret Rodysill, premiered a video for his latest single "Release" via Backseat Mafia. The single is the second from his debut full-length album, Lay It Bare, set to arrive March 5 via Bodan Kuma Recordings. Share the video via YouTube.
Discussing the single, Rodysill stated, "'Release' is about catharsis. The past few years, spending a lot of time in hospitals and in bed, I got to a place where things were so bottled up that I needed to let go of protecting myself. I needed to release all that bad energy. 'Release' is meant to promote just that-letting it all go."
Lay It Bare does just that. Arriving a decade after The Record Summer released a critically-acclaimed debut EP, that led to performances at SXSW, Primavera Sound and CMJ, and five years after two singles for the London-based label Loose Narrative, the songs trace Rodysill's journey after surviving a rare, intense, nervous system disorder, mental illness, and hospitalization.
Rodysill now looks back on that period and is just grateful to be alive... "You think you can count on your health, on being well so that you can do all of the other things you want to do, but sometimes, things don't work out that way," said Rodysill. "I was pretty much incapacitated for years."
Lay it Bare illustrates a hard-won perspective, with songs about loss, grief and near-tragedy. "The album deals with pain - both mental and physical pain. I'm not sure which is worse."
Rodysill has begun speaking openly about his experience with both physical and mental illness and was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at SXSW 2020, before its cancellation due to COVID. He has also worked with The Wishart Group, the mental health-based charity of Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit.
With a new album and a new perspective, Rodysill hopes his work can inspire the type of recovery he has struggled so much for, provide support for those trying to cope with mental health issues, and convey a backdrop for those living in the 21st century.
The songs on Lay it Bare reflect gratitude and a look back at ten years of hell.
Listen here:
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