BOSTON, Mass. [August 23, 2024] – Timelines are usually, by their very nature, what we make of them. With a bridge between a designated point in the past and the present moment, we can monitor forward progress, marking a preferred evolution into our current form, or depict a regression, illuminating what once was and what will likely never be again. For The Brother Stereo, the Massachusetts alternative rock band led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Robert Kelly, the notion of a timeline is not only at the growing root of the band, but also a dramatic new single, “Time in History,” set for streaming release on Friday, August 23.
With both an anthemic grandeur and an inviting, intimate core, “Time in History” is not your typical 2024 single. The follow-up to The Brother Stereo’s punchy debut May single “After The Rain,” the track engages an introspective sonic journey through its five-minute runtime, canvassing broad strokes across a spectrum of sound with a centered gravitational pull as flashes of indie, psychedelia, post-Britpop, and space rock dance across Kelly’s lived-in sense of lyrical storytelling.
“‘Time in History’ is about the insecurities and complacency of today’s world coupled with the nostalgia of growing up and the longing for yesterday’s world,” says Kelly, the brother of longtime Dropkick Murphys drummer Matt Kelly, and the beloved Boston punk band’s substitute touring bass, banjo, and mandolin player. “I think this song will be relatable to our generation very directly.”
Kelly adds: “Plus, we are just really happy with how it represents what we are capable of producing. It has depth and musicianship and both of those things are very important to the three of us. It’s open for interpretation, which is definitely the way I like to write.”
The “three of us” that Kelly refers to is The Brother Stereo’s new – and inaugural – lineup, featuring Shawn Pelkey on drums and percussion and Buddy Sullivan on guitar. The new additions that took The Brother Stereo from Kelly’s occasional side project to full-on rock band are inextricably linked to the evolution of “Time in History,” which has its own timeline baked into its formation.
It started as a sparse acoustic composition back in 2018, before Kelly revisited it to demoed the track in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, planting the seeds of its chorus and building out its loose structure. In 2022, with Pelkey on board, rekindling a musical collaboration that first began with hardcore bands in grade school, it began to take shape, the addition of live drums and percussion fleshing out its sense of urgency and suggesting something greater than what Kelly first envisioned.
Sullivan was brought in roughly a year or so later, through mutual acquaintances, colleagues, and projects, as well as a shared desire to simply get together and rock out. His blazing guitarwork completed the aural picture, allowing “Time in History” to bloom into its galactic size and scope, so much so that its final two minutes unfold into an expansive trip of guitars and drums that spits in the face of the attention economy’s modern-day need for short, soundbite-driven songs.
“Shawn’s interest in my songs really motivated me to work on finishing this so I just put the time in and wrote more,” Kelly admits. “The direction of the song changes drastically at one point and I had to decide that we were not going back to, let’s say, the first movement. It was impossible to make it work but I just accepted that because I loved where it was ending up, and honestly who needs another chorus? When Buddy did his guitar parts it all just made sense to me and now anytime I hear his and Shawn’s nastiness at the end of the song, I feel nostalgic.”
“Time in History” was recorded and produced by The Brother Stereo, mixed by Trevor Buckingham, and mastered by Jay Frigoletto at MasterSuite in Brookline, New Hampshire. It represents a sizable leap forward for the band, and sets a tone for what’s to come as the trio, now operating as a cohesive, collaborative unit, strategically rolls out new music en route to a debut record not too far off on the horizon.
Kelly understands that what began as a solo project to fill in various gaps of what and where he was working at the time has now evolved into a full-fledged band with a rhythmic heartbeat propelling it forward. This timeline is far from concluded; and while perhaps in the past Kelly would seek immediate clarity or definition of the music that sits currently in front of him, he’s releasing his creative grip and enjoying the excitement of allowing these songs to blossom under the guidance of The Brother Stereo, the band.
“We are very new to each other in this work environment, but the camaraderie and love for each individual song comes through on the recording,” Kelly concludes. “This is a great collaboration of music minds that could take songwriting in any direction.”
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