The Brute – Brute : One (Album – Timezone Records)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Pop-Rock.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: “Brute : One” is the debut album by the solo-project The Brute. Daniel Gierke drives the music project, which is based in Switzerland.
Content: The album is clearly inspired by the universe of Depeche Mode. I can’t say The Brute sounds like an emulation, but it rapidly appears to be a darker interpretation of the English masters of Electro-Pop. Guitar and electronics both reveal a more haunting performance, but the global atmosphere and even the way of singing is clearly evoking Depeche Mode.
+ + + : I like this dark and naughty approach of electronics mixed with guitar. It has something ghostlike, accentuated by Gierke’s deep, but charismatic timbre of voice. I especially recommend listening to the opening piece “Driving To You”, which is totally representative of this work and to the harder and more aggressive “And I Want You… (Extended)”, which is a great last track.
– – – : The connection with Depeche Mode is obviously running through the album from start till the end, however it sounds as a very personal interpretation.
Conclusion: “Brute : One” is a cool piece of music, which might catch the attention of a wider audience from Electro-Pop to Rock-Pop lovers.
Best songs: “And I Want You… (Extended)”, “Driving To You”, “This Is Not Me”.
Rate: 7½.
Artist: www.thebrutemusic.com / www.facebook.com/TheBruteMusic
Label: www.timezone-records.com / www.facebook.com/plattenlabel.timezone
About The Brute
The Brute is the solo project of Daniel Gierke, who writes, sings and produces the material and combines electronics with guitar. Timezone Records released the debut album “Brute : One” in 2021 on CD and in digital formats.
Around the album Gierke issued a run of singles and EPs through Bandcamp, among them “Lonesome Hero / And I Want You…”, its companion remix EP, “Seduce Me / Rain” and “Driving To You / Momentum To Die”. In 2022 he put together the Depeche Mode tribute compilation “6122 (To Andrew Fletcher of Depeche Mode)”, a 2CD set released by Timezone Records to which The Brute contributed a version of “A Question Of Time”, with half of all profits going to a children’s charity in the UK and to the Children’s Cancer Trust in Germany.
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