Formed in late 1995, Detroit group Broken Hearts Are Blue lived the dream of being a band and then life took over with college graduation, grad school, a move to Denver and every member looking at their own next step. The group released their debut, The Truth About Love, in 1997 and then it was over.
Until it wasn’t! The group got together in Minneapolis and released an EP in 2018. They did it again in 2020 and then the pandemic struck. For Broken Hearts Are Blue, the down time worked as they were able to create the recently released new sophomore full-length, Dark Whimsy and Soft Surrealism.
The album features TFN premiere video today of “After The World, The World Remains.” The ballad highlights a different side of the band as its carefully played piano keeps your ears hanging on every word. It for sure is a track you will want to hear again. We suggest you watch the video below and then read below what singer Ryan Gage had to say about the song.
“Over the last twenty years or so, I’ve come to really appreciate the graceful, clean simplicity of art that is pared down to its most essential elements–those that evoke the work’s power while sustaining its form. There is something special about an intense, visceral response derived from ostensibly plaintive austerity, which upon the surface, appears uncomplicated, even artless, but that packs a punch upon its reflection. Be it the design of traditional Japanese homes, the unpretentious lines of Scandinavian furniture, the blacker than black paintings of Pierre Soulages, the poetry of Rae Armantrout, the films of Yasujiru Ozu and Robert Bresson, or the ambitious installation works of Richard Serra, I am increasingly moved and inspired by that which conjures from modest forms, an affluence of feeling.
After the World, the World Remains’ falls into the category of a work whose lyrics were intentionally pared down so as to compliment the melody of Dan’s composition. I was looking for that poignancy of longing that I get from some of the early ’70s work of Neil Young and John Lennon—that confessional singer-songwriter vibe. The lesser known folk singer Ed Askew’s Moon in the Mind also was likely informing my approach. I just wanted to cut down on big, showy words, focusing instead on trying to paint a raw, straight ahead image of one of life’s most ordinary scenarios rather than flashy abstraction, or as I have a tendency to do, story-tell through irony, play and artifice.” -Ryan Gage
The digital release is available now and a double 180-gram vinyl set will be dropping from Council Records in 2022. The vinyl will also include select tracks from the 2018 and 2020 recording sessions.
Council Records
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