Foundry 616 was lit by candlelight on Monday night for Brontë Horder‘s The Eleventh Hour EP launch, lighting the jovial faces of family, friends and fans who had come to support Brontë in her determined mission – to pursue her passion for music, and share it with the world.

After putting plans to live in Paris on hold for a Sony recording deal, Brontë wrote the new EP about the tiresome process of being held on a string for over a year by a record company capable of making her dreams soar. As an act of defiance, she sent it to Sony and finally they agreed to record the title track in their studios, so success was certainly in the air!

To open the night, English artist Cuzn (AKA Richard Soward) brought his big, folky sound to the stage with Gibson guitar and floor tambourine. His melodies and demeanour were incredibly warm, while his lyrics described London life, love and his experience of moving to Sydney. Interestingly enough, Brontë and him had met while she was walking through the London Underground and he was busking, and as luck would have it, when she needed to find a support act, he had moved to Sydney.

 

Then Brontë graced the stage as her fans cheered uproariously. She was exceptionally confident and defiant about her situation with Sony – almost to the point of wondering if she had said too much at times.

Most striking about her sound was her soaring voice – mostly pop-y, sometimes jazz-y, always honest. Amongst all the indie rock and electronic music in the Australian music scene lately it was refreshing to hear raw vocals and piano, and her style somewhat brought to mind Sara Bareilles at times.

As much of the room was filled with her family and friends, she loosened up and started to open up about the meaning behind her songs. Particularly resonant were clever songs like “Numbered Days” and “I’m in Love With a Stranger” about love that might have been and love that would be one day.

When she talked about her new EP, The Eleventh Hour, she ran through the negative emotions that she experienced with Sony when it felt like they were stringing her along. But one of my favourite songs from the night was “Serendipity”, which talked about one positive thing to come out of this – meeting her boyfriend.

 

Brontë Horder is a musical force to be reckoned with – talented, determined, and unashamedly herself, making her an artist to watch and behold as she continues writing, and hopefully gets the recognition she deserves.

You can listen to the rest of her new EP here:

By Erin Rooney

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