New York-based award-winning singer-songwriter and recording artist Brandon Anderson embraces life's light and joy with a refreshing new single, "Reborn."
Named a Critic's Pick by Timeout NY, Anderson was also listed as #8 on the Advocate's Hote Seat. The acclaimed recording artist was a finalist in the ultimate singer-songwriter contest and has crossed the nation on two U.S. tours. Anderson's name has been praised in the likes of NPR's Lake Effect, The Advocate, Queerty, The Shepherd Express, and more.
Preparing to release his upcoming album later this year, Brandon Anderson recently dropped the project's first lead single, "Reborn." After encompassing the world's darkness on his previous album, Brandon was inspired to write an album embracing life's light and celebrating joy, leading us to the project's first single. The tune is a solid representation of embracing your true self and relishing the happiness it comes with.
Hitting play on the single, "Reborn," we're met with an upbeat drum arrangement, a lively piano melody, buzzing background synths, and Brandon Anderson's breathy vocal stylings. As he begins to dive into his meaningful lyrical content, he expands on themes of leaving your woes behind and stepping into your day with a fresh and positive attitude.
As Brandon Anderson belts his vocals on the hook, he demands our energy with his energetic performance and motivational words. As the song makes its way to the outro, Brandon Anderson encourages us to do whatever it takes to spread our wings and be reborn.
Get your boost of inspiration with Brandon Anderson's latest single, "Reborn," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Brandon Anderson. What an exciting and motivational experience you've provided with your latest single, "Reborn." What inspired you to write a song about changing your outlook and view on life?
Thank you! Reborn was actually inspired during the lockdown. When the pandemic hit, my whole life came to a stop-- my work, my social life, my ability to travel to visit family, everything. As someone who works in music and theatre, there was no virtual work, especially at the beginning, so I had a lot of free time. At first, I was writing a ton, working off the reserve of inspiration I had and on projects I hadn't had time to get to in my normal life. But after a bit, my creativity began to dry up and I realized it was nearly impossible to keep creating when I had none of the social and artistic inputs that usually fill my life. It was a terrifying time for many reasons, but strangely it was also the first time in my adult life where I'd truly been able to pause and reflect. As with life in the arts, you jump from one opportunity to the next in the grind, always just hoping that the next thing will happen and you stop thinking about whether you actually even want the next thing. That soul searching led to deeper questions about how I present myself and what I put into my art, and more importantly what I leave out. As an LGBTQ person, I realized I had subconsciously been holding back or trying to present myself in a certain way because of what society had told me was acceptable, or what even friends and family had reinforced as products of that society. I had received so many subtle cues over my life and career of what would be tolerated and what would be cringed at or hinder my professional opportunities, and over time they left a mark. I started thinking about how so many of us are forced to put on masks in our daily lives to not make waves or to fit in and how that conditioning starts from birth. Reborn sprang from that realization and me wanting to write a song to encourage myself and others to break from that conditioning and to step closer to our authentic selves, even if others don't understand or approve. Did you work with any producers to help bring the song's sonic energy to life? What was your creative process like when tackling the sonics for "Reborn?"
I did! While I did the recording in my home studio here in NYC, I was introduced to an amazing producer and mixing engineer named Ryan Youmans by my fellow songwriter Mary Jennings in Nashville. She too had undertaken writing and recording an album while in lockdown (Her album Matriarch is amazing btw) and had loved the process of working virtually with Ryan. We connected on my last single Pixelated Love and he just really got what I was doing and was able to build upon my ideas and help to shape them sonically. I've always played with electronic elements in my music, but this new album has been a complete shift into the pop world. Musically, I really wanted to dance after being locked in my room for a year, so I think the sonic energy of Reborn and the album as a whole reflects that. How did you write your lyrics for "Reborn" to be as inspirational and confident as possible? Was it an easy process for you?
Lyrically, "Reborn" was kind of an anomaly. Usually, I start from an image, a thematic idea, or a hook, and the lyric spirals out from there. I very rarely start with a chorus, and the title is always the last thing to come--and I usually agonize over it for weeks. With "Reborn," I had the title first. I knew I wanted to write this song and have it be the cornerstone of the new album. As I had started breaking from old patterns and expressing parts of me that I had buried, I got more and more confident and I felt energized, I felt reborn. I knew that was what the album would be about, and the song began to swirl in my head. One night I was in the bathroom and had not turned on the lights-- there were just the city lights through the window-- and I saw the shadows on the wall in the mirror and that gave me the first line. From there the song wrote itself in an hour. How do songs like "Reborn" represent you and your music? Do you often write such optimistic pieces like this?
Well, "Reborn" and this whole new album is a huge departure for me musically and tonally. My last album, Wages of Sin was written during the height of the Trump era, and I don't think anyone would have described it as optimistic--quite the opposite. Musically, it was an alternative rock with a lot of electric and electronic elements, and it was really me processing the darkness of the world. I did not like the world I was seeing and Wages of Sin was really an indictment of what our society was becoming and was me leaning into that darkness and exploring how much of it was in me too. My music has always been political and socially driven, and though I have always called myself an optimist pushing for change, Wages of Sin was definitely a dive into the darkness. During the pandemic I was thinking a lot about the stories we tell and the power we have in reinforcing narratives -- I had been doing it in my own life with narratives that were not my own. I started thinking about what would happen if I started embracing what could be if I embraced the joy, the growth, the ability to change, and the hope in life and tried to reinforce that. Also, selfishly, I just wanted to write something that made me feel lighter, that made me want to dance and elevate this new freedom I felt within myself. We lost so much this last year, we have been through the darkness and I felt like the world needed some light. I hope that "Reborn" and this album will inspire others to find joy and authenticity in themselves, to shine a bit brighter. If nothing else, I hope these songs make people feel good, even for a few minutes. The video for "Reborn" definitely tries to capture this light and joy. How does "Reborn" get us ready for your forthcoming album? Should we expect an exciting and inspirational journey to come from the record?
"Reborn" definitely sets the tone for the new album. Thematically, the album goes on the journey I have been on for the last year-- one I think many people have traveled. It is a step from the darkness into the light and I truly hope that it is an inspirational journey--it definitely has been one for me in its creation. In many ways, the album is a love letter to my LGBTQ+ community and to all people who have felt othered or told they don't fit into the frame. I say break the frame, and step through it -- or better yet, dance through it.