BRUT by Brodka: A Brutalist Album...Apparently

I've taken a break from this blog lately partially because I've been busy and partially because I just haven't felt motivated to write about anything. When I thought about writing this post, I kept telling myself that I wouldn't, but it continued bothering me, so I'm just going to get it out of my system.

And that's a bit unfortunate because I really like Brodka. She's definitely in my top 15 favorite bands/artists. So before I get into her newest album, I'll heap some praise on her.

Monika Brodka is a Polish artist who rose to fame by winning Polish Pop Idol in 2004. She has since had plenty of success in Poland, with all of her past albums reaching at least the top 10 in the charts and being certified either gold or platinum.

Her song "Varsovie" is one of my favorite songs ever, period. The slow, droning accordion intro that is soon joined by the upbeat drums and keyboards, together with the thoughtful, whimsical lyrics, makes for a wonderful song that I can listen to over and over again.

As for some other Brodka songs that I like, "Miał być ślub..." ("There Was Supposed to be a Wedding...") is a bouncy, bittersweet tune. "Szysza" ("Pine Tree") has a unique sound to it. "Granda" ("Brawl") never fails to make me tap my feet. "Syberia" ("Siberia") is the best song I have come across in terms of evoking the sensation of "warming up in front of a fireplace." Even after I deleted it from my playlist because I thought I was tired of it, "Up in the Hill" kept finding its way back into my head.

What I'm getting at here is I think Brodka is an amazing artist, and I love a lot of her work. So yesterday, when I saw she had released a new album, BRUT, I was pretty excited. I had already listened to both of the singles off of the album with mixed reactions. I thought "Game Change" was pretty good. It had a cool, futuristic feel to it. I didn't make it through "Hey Man" though. The echoed, half-spoken/half-sung vocals just didn't appeal to me at all.

The rest of the album is more of a "Hey Man" than a "Game Change," at least as far as my enjoyment of it goes. One issue I have is that many of the songs just feel incomplete. I'm generally not a fan of silence or "space" in music; I like a nice wall of sound. So maybe what to me sounds incomplete is really just music without an overwhelming amount of instrumentation. However, I can't help but feel like songs such as "Imagination," "Falling Into You," and "The World Is You" have pieces missing from each of them.

Another big thing I noticed was the drums. They often felt overly complicated or just plain off. It bothered me even more after I went back and listened to some of my favorite Brodka songs, because the drums are actually a big part of why I like a lot of them. But songs like "Come To Me," "Falling Into You" (again), and "In My Eyes" feature drums that range from out of place to unpleasant.

Perhaps the biggest gripe I have is one that I discovered while reading an article about the album. The title of the album is BRUT, but I didn't think much of the name when I first saw it. However, when I read that the album was meant to have a brutalist theme, I felt a mixture of confusion and disappointment.

Besides music, another topic I'm very interested in is architecture, specifically brutalism. I love the "bland," grey, concrete buildings that many people dismiss as monotonous or depressing. Even though it's a visual aesthetic, I've come across songs that give off "brutalist vibes," and I have a whole playlist dedicated to that.

This connection between music and a style of architecture is a bit hard to explain. It's not as if the songs themselves are simplistic or dull. Something about them just conjures up the imagery of a brutalist space. For me, this kind of imagery and sound is relaxing.

Maybe my idea of a "brutalist" song just doesn't match up with everyone else's. Maybe songs like "Po prostu pastelowe" ("Just Pastel") by Strachy Na Lachy, "Jump Jet" by Ride, and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve don't produce the same feeling and imagery in other people's heads as they do in mine, but I really struggle to hear the brutalism in BRUT. There's an industrial quality to a lot of the songs, but as I mentioned before about "Game Change," it feels more futuristic than anything.

I wish I liked this album. Brodka has created some really amazing music throughout her career. BRUT appears to be another step in her journey from idol winner to autonomous artist. It's a project she seems to have worked meticulously on and put a lot of emotion into.

For me, however, the connection between the theme and the content of the album just isn't there, and what is there often feels like it's missing something. I'll probably listen to "Game Change" a few more times, but when it comes to BRUT, I think that's about it.