The new solo project Dangermaker’s prolific frontman, Adam Brookes, may come as a surprise to fans of his previous work.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Brookes began seriously writing and recording music around 1999 in San Francisco with a collection of cheap instruments and a four-track cassette recorder in the closet of his creaky old apartment. After forming indie pop band Dangermaker, music went from pastime to obsession for Adam as he dealt with the sudden death of his father during the first week of tracking their debut album. The experience plunged him further into his art with a sense of urgency, eventually emerging with a euphoric sound that defined Dangermaker’s three releases on Breakup Records.
Today Glide is excited to premiere Brookes’ new single “All I Got Is You”, a song that brings a more summery, minimal, electronic feel than we’ve heard from the singer/songwriter before. Lyrically reflecting on whether or not he has something to lose, Brookes finds himself questioning and grappling with what exactly that might be. With a sparse beat and airy lyrics, the song brings to mind acts like The Raveonettes, The Kills, and Wild Nothing, but with its own kind of New Wave vibe.
Adam Brookes sums up the feelings behind the song in his own words:
“Over the past few years I’ve written some big sounding rock songs that suit my full band Dangermaker, and shelved just as many ones that don’t. All I Got Is You is one of my favorites that never quite fit in, so it felt like time to make some separation to experiment with a lighter, more minimal electronic sound to bring it to life. No one else has touched this or my other solo songs, so it really is a self-produced solo effort start to finish.
I’ve recorded and arranged in such a way that I can perform live solo as well, but still fill out the sound with electronic drums and synths beyond the expected acoustic singer-songwriter approach. I took some inspiration from the likes of indie hybrids like The Raveonettes, The Kills, or The Crocodiles, that sort of indie guitar pop but with hip-hop beat production. I’m pretty happy with how it’s all turning out so far and anxious to get it out there, I think some people will be surprised and hopefully dig it in a new way.”
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