Ladies and gentlemen, Aussie Brendan Maclean has created an album for the world to enjoy. With his own cheeky brand of pop met with a flashy wardrobe, Brendan Maclean is ready to take over the world with his new album release Population — a crowd funded, genre spanning album. With a selection of nine tracks, there’s a song on Population for any and everybody.
A lot has happened since we interviewed Brendan back in issue 6. In 2013, Brendan would be met with his biggest year yet — one successful crowd funding campaign, a role in the Oscar nominated film The Great Gatsby as Klipspringer and a couple of well received singles “Stupid” and “Winner.” This year has begun as busy as the last with the release of Population on February 8th.
Let’s start off with the lead track “Not Your Call”, a classic Brendan Maclean track with a quirky edge. The lyrics describe a failed relationship and it’s apparent what direction he wants to take you when the opening comes in with “I’m glad you brought your dogs so we can walk about when we run out of nouns and verbs.” For such a negative theme, “Not Your Call” has a refreshing upbeat, 80s electro-pop style melody.
Further down the album, Brendan has a song all about what is most likely the dominant article of clothing in his fabulous wardrobe — “Sweater.” Okay, maybe it’s not about his collection, but the song shows off his incredible versatility. Brendan’s vocals bring on this folk meets crooner style that doesn’t compare to anything on the market today. I’m talking nothing but pure acoustic guitars and vocals. Only towards the end are you met with barely audible electronic beat.
As the shortest song on the album at 2:32, “Fox Dance” is one of the more uniquely assembled tracks with a haunting saxophone. It’s like a cinematic experience with lyrics like “I love the way you dance like a fox in high grass” providing gorgeous imagery of how someone may just captivate you in that heavily romantic way.
With Population, there’s difficulty in describing Brendan’s sound because he seems to have entered into his own realm…a place where he really can’t be compared to anyone else. If descriptions and labels confuse you, feel free to click his bandcamp link and experience Population for yourself. Overall, Brendan Maclean hit it out of the park. As a pay-what-you-like album, we encourage you to pay what you can as world domination for Brendan Maclean wouldn’t be possible without you.
Brendan Maclean on the web: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp
