Graceland 02

A song about us and one of our favorite Movie characters.

A Ballad For Coolhand

Early solo piano demo off the single of our latest record Oh Lost.

Touch Demo

High-res MP3 album and lossless FLAC album available for free at www.brightonma.net.

  It didn’t take us long to settle into our first Schubas Residency. Perhaps there is nowhere else we are more comfortable playing than on that stage – the first ever BMA show was at Schubas late 2005. And as with all the bands privileged enough to have been asked to play the 4-night Residency, we wanted to make it special.

  Discussions of different setlists that would separate the book of music we’ve created and have continued to create was just the beginning. With the parting of ways with our previous bassist at the turn of the New Year, January was spent defining different moods we wanted to create. New tunes emerged from Matt’s mouth that helped create a sense of rebirth — not to over-dramatize it, but that’s how we all felt. The possibilities were seemingly endless. This documentation of tunes from each of the four weeks stands as a testament to those possibilities.

  Take the performance of Underground, from this series. Setting aside the glam-rock tendencies of the studio version, a more delicate but equally driving arrangement we dubbed the ”Ennio Morricone Underground,” came about with the help of Josh Shapiro’s upright bass.

  Josh was just one of the guest musicians that appear on these recordings. Our long-time friend and all-things-music guru Alex Hall graced us with his presence adding his keyboard musings for two of the sets. Nate Lepine was also summoned to provide yet another timbre, that of his saxes and flute. And these were the debut performances of our now current bassist, Jon Ozaksut, who fit in better than anyone could have imagined.

  We realized that if it were not to sound like a royal racket with all these people on stage, we would need to play more subtly and with more space. Something we continue to think about more and more — the idea that we are all there to serve the songs rather than serve ourselves, to service the melody and vocals without fearing the silence between notes. Sharing our music with each other.

  We chose these six tunes (with accompanying Thax Douglas poem) to represent what we did this past February. There was plenty more usable material, especially new songs that were born of preparing these sets. But we chose to keep these for our own and enjoy them as they are on tape: found yet still searching. We have included a couple staples of our live set that have yet to appear on record along side tunes from our out-of-print EP and the Amateur Lovers LP.

  There are beautiful moments throughout. And there are flubs, too. The sweet and the sour. Nowhere did we overdub, fix, or apply other studio trickery like autotune (some level adjustments were made, obviously). This is what we sound like live. And we hope you enjoy it.

Eskimos (live)

Brighton MA - Fare Thee Well [Billboard Sun EP]

The forthcoming album by Chicago indie outfit Brighton MA titled "Oh Lost." 

Produced by Brian Deck

Sweet Delusions by Brighton MA

Thirst by Brighton MA

The forthcoming album by Chicago indie outfit Brighton MA titled "Oh Lost" produced by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse).


Indie-rockers Brighton MA have come into their own through refining their signature bursting emotionality with concise song structures and expansive dynamics on their sophomore album, Oh Lost. In an era of hyper stimulation, the arresting clarity of the Chicago-based quartet’s latest reminds us to not lose sight of the simple beauty of life.
	
On the lead track “Touch”—which the band is readying a video for—singer-songwriter Matt Kerstein recalls how in youth we’re more emotionally available and attuned to the wonder of life. He sings with tender weariness: "Kids like us trying to live off the Touch." Kerstein notes: “Everyone related and felt those lyrics so they could just focus on the music around the words.” Besides being a conceptual touchstone, the track marked an aesthetic one as Brighton MA hit upon a punchier approach to song arrangement. “That was a turning point because of its general simplicity. It was one of the first tunes in a fresh batch after the last album. It developed quickly and we kept it simple with driving immediacy.” 

Producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse) tracked Oh Lost in Chicago at Engine Studios. His sensitivity to Brighton MA’s endearingly scruffy hooks and romantic volatility helped him embolden the band’s approach with adventurous textures and concise arrangements. “He came to rehearsals with a scalpel and he spearheaded a lot of experimentation,” singer Matt Kerstein says, summing up Deck’s contributions.  The band also benefitted from the first-time opportunity of having an uninterrupted month-long block to record. This chance at sustained creativity allowed the band the freedom to see new ideas through and be more detail oriented with performances and dynamics. In addition to the luxury of non-rushed studio time, Brighton MA also benefited from finding a wellspring of inspiration with the addition of fresh blood.  Singer-songwriter Kerstein and Brighton MA drummer Sam Koentopp were in Scotland Yard Gospel Choir together and, along with arranger/guitarist Jim Tuerk, have been the foundation of Brighton MA since 2006. In 2007 the trio welcomed into the fold guitarist Joe Darnaby, and bassist Jon Ozaksut. 

The critically-acclaimed indie-rock quintet has been applauded for its innate lysergic folkie, noise-pop aesthetic and bold vulnerability, garnering favorable comparison to The Walkmen, The Flaming Lips, and Bob Dylan. Brighton MA has shared the stages with Spoon, The Arcade Fire, Old 97’s, Elvis Perkins, and Mason Jennings. The group has had songs licensed by the TV shows “Gossip Girl,” “Community,” “Castle,” ‘Ghost Whisperer,” and “One Tree Hill.” Most recently, their signature tune, "Good Kind of Crazy" (featured on Oh Lost), was licensed by Jack Daniels for an international television and web campaign scheduled to air through 2012. 

The standout track “Bulletproof” is a coming of age song devoid of static sentimentality—the pining humility of Kerstein’s vocal, washes of big ringing guitars, and the rippling cathartic guitar hooks, lends it a stirring “in the now” insistency. The track’s pent up emotionality is poetically mirrored in the opening lyrics: “We weren't built to last we were built to explode/ Watch all of our pieces learn to let go/Gently float down towards the chaos bellow/ Wo oh oh hit the ground and just roll.” “‘Bulletproof’ was a telling moment for the band. I had it as a folk song, and you can kind of hear that,” Kerstein says of the crisp strumming and his plaintively sincere vocal approach on the verses. “But when those raucous electric guitars kick in, that’s the sound of Brighton MA playing on a track.” 

The album closes with the haunting “Wake The Dead.” The track has poise and power, lush with harmonies and majestic backup vocals, waves-crashing guitars, shimmering keyboards, and beautifully weary lead guitar filigree. The winsomely optimistic feel of the track seems to sum up Oh Lost. “I think the tunes on this new album focus on keeping the spark going while fighting off over saturation. You tend to forget the excitement and amazingness of life in process of the day to day. But when you stop and look up, you remember that spark.”

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