Far Away from Brady Grey is indie folk done right. Gorgeous guitar, powerful lyricism, and a memorable chorus.
The songwriting style of Brady Grey manages to achieve two different emotions at once which, believe me, isn’t easy. While there is a deep sadness in Grey’s subject matter, there is also an underlying optimism which beckons a listener to keep their head fixed towards the sun.
Far Away, a single from his upcoming album Three Crows, illustrates these intense personal feelings with a gorgeous acoustic backing.
In the hometown of Minneapolis, Brady Grey has been facing some brutal truths. The artist’s wife was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, resulting in “a relationship that ends up being more complex than you thought it was going to be”.
Like any good musician, Grey has been finding a cathartic release of the situation through honest songwriting. Unlike his time on the road playing in the band Step Rockets (who supported Bon Jovi!), this track was written in Grey’s micro-world: a Minneapolis basement, mixed by the ever-talented Joe Mabbott.
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Far Away is a track that bottles these emotions, then lets them boil. Grey faces his thoughts head-on in the track, making for a gripping story. The track begins with a gorgeous acoustic riff that slides to all the right notes, much like a James Taylor A-side. Hypnotic drums also sway in and out of the mix, assisting in putting the listener in a haze. The lyric “everything I see is rust and old” paints a contrast to the warm instrumentation and indie-euphoria backing. It’s almost as if the beauty of the music is trying to pull Grey out of turmoil.
“I can’t explain, I go away, far away now, it comes in waves” sings Grey in the chorus, with a slight waver in his voice. It’s a convicting delivery for a convincing track. By the time Grey belts in the final chorus, you’re drowning in the story and the necessity of optimism in dark situations. When describing the single, Grey expressed that it’s about “those moments of just appreciating something that is so beautiful, and noticing that moment when you’re taken away by beauty – that’s what allows me to deal with the harder shit”.
Check out more from Brady Grey here.
