Bronson (stylised in all caps[6]) is the debut studio album by Bronson,the collaborative project of American DJs Odesza and Australian producer Golden Features.[7] It was released on 7 August 2020,delayed from an initial 17 July release.
Odesza members Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight bonded with Thomas Stell over a mutual admiration of each other's music,sending demos to one another over Dropbox.[3] After multiple studio sessions over FaceTime,[10] they eventually met up in order to record together,which led to the creation of the album.[3]
Release and promotion
The album was announced on 27 April via Twitter,[10] with Odesza posting on their account:
"Just finished an entire album with Golden Features."[11]
Thomas Stell additionally posted:
"Let me introduce you to BRONSON. A full album from myself and my brothers ODESZA coming soon."[10]
The album was originally scheduled to release on 17 July 2020,[8] but was delayed to 7 August.[2]
In a statement regarding the album's themes,Bronson stated the record is about:
"[Their] respective needs to challenge personal struggles,both internal and external. Moreover,the trio recognized that their own battles were merely microcosms of the surrounding world. The hope was to craft a body of work that was reflective of that duality of lightness and darkness inherent to the human condition.[16]
Artwork
The cover artwork depicts a man holding his head in his hands,with the letters "Bro" and "Nson" written in capital letters on his left and right hands,respectively.[11] The album title is displayed in white text at the bottom of the image.[6]
Critical reception
Ross Goldenberg of Dancing Astronaut stated:"With all tracks seamlessly transitioning into one another,Bronson maintains a balanced pool of lighter additions."[17] He additionally described the album as "a promising first chapter".[17]
Sophie Bress,also of Dancing Astronaut,called the album "a maze of sound,brimming with contradictions. It is expected but not predictable,surprising but not shocking,sonically diverse but not disjointed."[18] Bress also noted the album "brings together their distinct styles",describing the result as a "multitudinous and emotive musical collection that defies classification".[18]
Allie Gregory of Exclaim! praised the album as "a wholesome,heartfelt approach to electronic dance music that appeals to emotion before aesthetics."[15] Gregory also stated she "hope[s] to hear from [them] again in the future."[15]
Ryan Middleton of Magnetic Magazine described the album as "tough and gritty" and praised its "intricate melodies".[14] Middleton also favourably compared the track "Tense" to Gesaffelstein's production work.[14]
Commercial performance
In Australia,Bronson debuted and peaked at number 22 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the chart dated 17 August 2020,[19] before falling into the lower fifty the following week.[20]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
