I will admit to being a little disappointed when I heard Brother Hawk’s forthcoming full length, Big Medicine, will consist mostly of previously released material that has been re-recorded. After all, it’s been over three years since the band gave us Affairs of Plain Living, and in the interim the group has spent a lot of the time on the road perfecting their sound and garnering their fan base. If ever there were a time to hit fans with new material, it would seem now would be it.
But listening to their new single, “Half Empty,” you begin to get a sense of the rationale behind the decision. Because in just about every way imaginable, the quality of the listening experience has been improved. The band sounds tighter, more explosive, and emotive. J.B. Brisendine’s vocals, long a defining trait of the group’s alt-blues aesthetic, sound positively lustrous, each note and phrase reverberating with passion and longing, hope and regret, love and heartache. These are whiskey-soaked confessions from the soul backed by howling guitars and swampy Southern grooves. In short: it’s everything that Brother Hawk have promised since their inception.
Shot live at various Atlanta venues including the Earl and the Tabernacle, the video is appropriately simple, low-key, and straightforward. For all their arena-ready swagger, Brother Hawk have always been a blue-collar band at heart and “Half Empty” eschews any elaborate displays of showmanship for visuals that are modest and understated. In the end, the hero here is the performance, which is quite simply Brother Hawk’s finest moment yet.
“Half Empty” is the lead single from Big Medicine, due out in May.
More Info:
Web: brotherhawkatl.com
Bandcamp: brotherhawk.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @BrotherHawkATL
Instagram: @brotherhawkatl
Twitter: @BrotherHawkATL