Paris is On (Jason Forrest Remix)
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Paris is On (Album Version)
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Paul Brill, forward-looking creator of 2004's critically-acclaimed New Pagan Love Song, released his new LP, Harpooner, on his own Scarlet Shame Records this past winter. His most searing artistic statement to date, Harpooner marks the end of Brill's Americana tinges and a full embrace of the intense musical collages he began on NPLS. It's a stunning, challenging, and edgy piece of work, marking the welcome return of one of songwriterdoms most independent and progressive artists.
NYC Native Paul Brill first began writing songs in northern Vermont, wood-shedding and 4-tracking while holed-up in a bleak, rustic cabin. After a few light-deprived winters, Paul sold his belongings and fled for sunny western shores, dabbling in brief stints as an herbal smokes salesman, street performer, valet, corporate errand boy, and marine biology instructor. From his western base, Paul performed extensively across the U.S. and Canada and was soon lured home to NYC, his compositions similarly taking striking new turns.
Brill's first releases, including the well-received Sisters EP and LP combo, were vulnerable and plaintive twang-kissed affairs that showcased a thoughtful songwriting presence. New Pagan Love Song, which merged earlier works acoustic elements with found sounds, samples, and bent beats, avoided a number of the clichés and self-indulgent foibles of the acoustic guitar-meets-electronics crowd. It was a record made by a songwriter genuinely interested in the possibilities of electronic experiments in songwriting. It was an album of comfortable melancholy that took critics by storm.
Harpooner continues further down that path, incorporating heavy-duty cut-and-paste collage elements for a work that comes off like a fever dream. It's a song of reckoning, a last gasp. It's nine tales regard plague, mental illness, misanthropy, and much salt water. In this thoroughly dismantled pop record, Brill collages found sounds, jigsaw beats, and damaged vocals into a work of boxed-in desperation. The acoustic guitar only rears its head now and again and songs are often driven by off-kilter percussion and samples more than anything. Even Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) stops by to lend his unique bass expertise! The record represents a significant step forward for Brill's sonic architecture, exploring further the unexpected collision between organic and electronic sound he first touched upon on NPLS.
Paul recently shot a video for the Harpooner track, "Dont Tell Them." The video was directed by Barney Miller, who has worked with Kanye West, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Gillian Welch. Also directing a video for Paul was animator Joel Trussell, known for his outstanding work on Jason Forrest's War Photographer video. Speaking of Forrest, for Harpooner's first single (and arguably poppiest song), Paris Is On, Brill has enlisted the help of insane electronic artist Jason Forrest to remix the song, yielding some interesting results. Paul is assembling further remixes of the song at the moment.
In addition to writing and recording songs for his own albums, Paul has also composed music for several films, the theme for a NPR program, TV pilots, and various network TV commercials. Paul’s original score for the award-winning HBO feature documentary, The Trials of Darryl Hunt, was hailed by Variety as “memorably chilling, sounding notes of purest dread.†New films scored by Paul Brill include: “The Devil Came on Horseback,†“Pindemonium,†“2K3,†and “Kaleidoscope.†This summer, Young American Recordings will release his soundtrack to “The Trials of Darryl Hunt.†Further recognition for Paul’s work includes First Place for in the 2004 International Songwriting Competition.
"Stunning..." 4 Stars - Paste
"Melancholic anthems for the weary and down-and-out...Brill's defining moment..." Critics Choice Top 10 CD of the Year - Rolling Stone
"A demure opus that serves as a testament to the enduring potency of classical pop songwriting...virulently catchy..." Pitchfork Media
"One of the most compelling and stunning albums released in 2004..."
4 1/2 Stars (Out of 5), Editors Choice, All Music Guide
"[Brill's] sly, pretty voice and acidic take on life...sucks you in...
sounds like it could have been the soundtrack to a lost Wes Anderson film." GQ
"One of the most sophisticated, yet subtle, indie songwriters around." CMJ
