Brenden MacGowan Proves That Good Things Take Time

After a two-year hiatus, Ottawa’s own Brenden MacGowan breaks his silence with a long-awaited single that has listeners caught in his artistic virtuosity. From his 2016 spotlight on the television show La Voix Junior and the luxury of getting an opportunity to perform the national anthem for the NHL hockey team, the Ottawa Senators. Brenden MacGowan has recently discovered that adapting can be the most beneficial trait to embrace through life’s evolution.

Faced with the inevitable fate of his voice changing and the fearful state of mind this brought to him, it caused Brenden MacGowan to put music on the back burner and halt his live performances. However, after becoming more comfortable with what was to come, he started embracing his new voice while honing his songwriting abilities. This led to him creating a world of his own through his haunting yet beautiful lyrics and melodies.

Copious arrays of luscious guitar riffs greet us within the latest composition by Brenden MacGowan. “Until Next Summer…,” tours us through the motions of a love story that has an expiry date on its duration. With a blend of glimmer and bellow elements, we get to take in the crisp offering of Brenden MacGowan’s revisited sound that packs a punch with the emotion it offers up.

Luring us into the reverberated croons that gently glide across our mind, the rhythmic tempo of “Until Next Summer…” is drenched in authenticity and edges us into full-body movements as we swoop into the infectious grooves before us. Admiring the indie-pop effervescence that hails from the upbeat nature of this record, we allow ourselves to get transported into the beautifully scripted lyrics that paint mesmerizing pictures of vivacity before us. Although residing in an up-tempo liveliness, the high octane energy that is factored into this equation gets met with a melancholy feel as the song progresses.

Addressing themes of promise, yearning, and optimism, all showcased into one striking example of fading love, Brenden MacGowan’s impact leaves us amazed with his ability to translate such a bittersweet medley of sentiment. Back and better than ever, Brenden MacGowan is thriving in the flourishing fields of the pop wave.

Welcome to BuzzMusic, Brenden MacGowan. Congratulations on the release of "Until Next Summer…" With the time you took off seeming beneficial for you in ways that we can't begin to fathom, how do you feel re-introducing yourself to the world?

Honestly, I just feel really happy. I haven't felt this much happiness and excitement in a really long time. After not performing or releasing anything over the past two years, the music I am putting out now feels very true to me. The music I am putting out now gives listeners a chance to see the real me and allows people to see that I am more than just the kid who sang for the Ottawa Senators and who was on La Voix Junior.

Is this record based on personal experience, or did you pull inspiration from a secondary source? What does this "Until Next Summer…" mean to you as the creator

The storyline of this record is not based on personal experience, but the emotional aspect is pulled straight from within. Until I started working on this project, almost all of my songwriting was based on personal experience. I had the mindset that I could only write about things that pertained to me. 'Until next summer...' completely changed my perspective on songwriting. This record is about a summer love affair, where a relationship flourishes in the warm summer weather but eventually dies as the days get colder. This record really represents a powerful sense of optimism and nostalgic yearning while also touching on emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness, creating a very strong duality throughout the entire song. 'Until next summer...' takes these powerful emotions and turns them into this tragic love story that feels hauntingly familiar while still feeling unknown.

How long did it take you to execute such detailed lyrics in this composition? Did you find yourself sitting on this song for a while before deciding it was a good time to make your official debut?

This song has a very funny origin story. My best friend (Emma Connelly) wrote a song for an English assignment back in May of 2020. So, we got together and wrote a song that fit the criteria for the assignment. Later that night, when I was back home, I still had the guitar chords and verse melody stuck in my head, and I just kept playing and singing them both over and over again. So, long story short, I scraped the lyrics that we wrote and wrote what the song is today. I wrote most of the song within that week, but I made tweaks here and there until it was recorded this past August. Ever since I wrote 'Until next summer...' I had a gut feeling that it was going to be my first single back. I loved the storyline, the melodies and loved the fact that it is a sad song that you can still bop your head to.

Through the time you took off, what is the most important lesson you learned about yourself? What would you say to your listeners out there who may be looking to pump the brakes on a specific aspect of their life?

I think that the most important lesson that I have learned during my time off is to never give up. Back when my voice was changing, I honestly thought that I would never sing again and thought that people would not want to hear me if I couldn't belt out Whitney Huston or the American National Anthem. Since then, I have learned that my voice isn't gone; it's just evolved. Additionally, I found my love for songwriting, something that I never thought I would love as much as I do. So my advice to anyone who is either going through something similar to what I went through, or to anyone who feels like they're lost they don't know what they're doing is; do what makes you happy, and don't let anyone or anything stop you from doing it.

What can listeners anticipate to hear next from you?

"Until next summer..." is just the beginning. This record is the introduction to my world of fabrication. So if listeners like what they hear, there is so much more coming very soon. This may include a second single? Possibly a bigger body of work coming in the new year? I don't know? I guess you'll have to stick around to find out!

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