After ten years of relentless touring with Skinny Lister, Sam Brace finally arrived home after his final international runs supporting The Interrupters across Canada and North America in November 2019.
His desire to venture on his musical journey soon set sail, but he was brainstorming ideas about how to approach this. The pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sam Brace, as this posed the perfect opportunity to begin experimenting.
As you tour through Sam Brace’s music catalog, you’re bound to wind up at his most recent release, “Partly Coded.” The textured atmosphere heard etched into the music has us delving into the passion that Sam Brace emanates when performing his vulnerable timbres.
His songwriting utilizes timing and space effectively as we feel the impact of each pause between his lyrical motifs. It’s in those moments where we hear his opulent croons resting on the final words of his verses. Being the lead track on his forthcoming album 'Fever & Bones,' the album itself is a celebration of and memorial to past and future moments.
“Partly Coded” masterfully fits into this burgeoning concept. The complex narrative revolves around losing the person you’re closest to yet gaining them back again, only to realize you’ve had to leave behind things important to your identity. Through such a heartfelt offering of lyrics, Sam Brace leaves us feeling his poetic storytelling in such a monumental way. “Partly Coded” is a mere taste of what to expect from the obsession, heat, and lust you’ll be exposed to on 'Fever & Bones.'
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Sam Brace, and congratulations on the release of the lead single from your forthcoming album! What inspired you to make this single the track to introduce "Fever & Bones?"
Thanks! And thanks for having me on! "Partly Coded" instinctively felt like it needed to be track one on the album from the moment I finished it. The introduction to the track itself also serves as a perfect scene-setter for the record. The song quickly became one of my favorites tracks after putting the big Bends era Radiohead style guitars down. I still get a buzz off the way the sound of those lead lines makes me feel! Also, one of the last things we added was the sound of the sea at the very start and end of this track. It's subtle, but I love the fact it kicks off with breaking waves, I've always been close to the sea or the Thames throughout my life and it including an element of the sound of this felt like it was the only way to open up the record.
Is the narrative of "Partly Coded" based on a true story? Does your songwriting often take this approach?
All our songs are based on some kind of truth. Even if it's spun out slightly or viewed from a different perspective, the original idea is usually from an experience we have lived. Adam, the co-writer on all these tracks, is our main lyric man. We've worked together to hone the stories and deliver honestly but also an open interpretation of lyrical themes across the record. "Partly Coded" itself is about losing the person you're closest to... And then getting them back again by letting go of a bunch of things you'd wrongly thought were important to your identity. The song is also a reminder never to close yourself off to the possibility of change, however painful it might seem.
What can you tell listeners about the upcoming collection of songs to be released?
'Fever & Bones' is the hyper-intense state of being that characterizes the moment you become totally infatuated with someone. The obsession, heat, and lust that takes over every thread of your being. But it is also about the pain when things come to an end. When all you feel is hot confusion layered over a walking skeleton. The album is a celebration of and memorial to those moments - past and future.
What main message do you want your audience to take away from this single?
I really want people to listen to 'Fever & Bones' and be left feeling like it's a familiar yet new sound that reflects some of my greatest musical inspirations from 90's rock with a healthy modern rock twist on the top. It's already been amazing to see some of the reactions to the first few singles. I'm so excited to finally get the whole record out, we have a tonne more ideas, and we've already got a number of tracks down for whatever will follow 'Fever & Bones.' It feels like the journey is only just beginning, and we're stoked to see where it will take us.
