Novocastrian enigma brndxn returns with second single time like that, exploring cynical and nihilistic views of change – in both himself and in the people around him, who brndxn perceive to be constantly evolving to fit into the cliques and societal constructs they surround themselves with, while he does not.
Vocally, brndxn gives a performance reminiscent of Deuce (of Hollywood Undead fame), over production elements similar to those of Powfu and Mike Shinoda – the soft, extended intro that gently eases the listener into a consistent track built on soft live drums, lenient 808’s and a constant finger-plucked guitar progression. The result is an alternative sound of bedroom pop – not quite rap, not quite hyperpop, but a solid and progressive product drawing obvious influence from both pockets.
brndxn tells Indie Is Not A Genre that the song was one of “like twenty songs I recorded in one night after a year of writer’s block”, which by description alone is intriguing enough to prompt a listen. It came about after an epiphany of sorts, spending “the past couple years” on his personal growth in an emotional sense, viewing a lot of time and energy he spent on resentment and negative feelings he harboured as a waste of time, hence the title, and forlorn lyrics like ‘if I could take it back I promise I would’ giving it a strong pull into the emo/pop-punk direction – which is fitting, thanks to brndxn’s somewhat nasally, pining cadence draws immediate comparisons to those of an early blink-182’s Tom DeLonge – a correlation one could never take lightly. Unlike DeLonge and his peers of that era of pop-punk, brndxn possesses a more capable vocal dynamic, not necessarily range, but a willingness to test it, which shows the hyperpop ascendency, which may be a sound the young Newcastle artist might experiment with in the future.
Another differential between this classic resentful frat-esque sound of American pop-punk lyricism and brndxn’s writing, is the perspective: instead of attributing his angst to hating high school and people he’s surrounded with, he flips it on his head, and applies his sadness to this realisation he’s had, one that his sectioning off from his peers and environment was necessary, and he’s prevented himself from ‘cliché’ experiences he’ll never get the chance to take again – dictating the tone to be more regretful than resentful.
brndxn sounds like SadBoyProlific mixed with X Ambassadors, if it was produced by grandson, and grew up in regional NSW, Australia.
time like that is now available to stream and download on all platforms and is the second single off an upcoming body of work we can expect from brndxn later in the year.