SYML | |
|---|---|
 Brian Fennell performing in Norway in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brian Leseney Fennell |
| Born | January 16, 1983 Issaquah, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Labels | Nettwerk |
| Website | symlmusic |
SYML is the solo venture of Brian Leseney Fennell, who was previously part of the indie band Barcelona. SYML released his eponymous debut album on May 3, 2019, through Nettwerk Records. [1]
Brian Fennell was born on January 16, 1983, in Issaquah, Washington, to his adopted parents. From a young age, he began studying classical piano, often playing in his grandmother's retirement home. [2] He began writing his own music when he was 18 years old, his first song being used as a coping mechanism after the death of a schoolmate. [3] After high school, he attended Seattle Pacific University [4] and graduated with a degree in music education with an emphasis in percussion. [3] After years of living in and around Seattle, he returned to his hometown and resides there where he writes and produces out of a home studio. [5]
In 2005, Fennell finished his first solo album “Safety Songs.” By the end of that year, he formed the band Barcelona with Brian Eichelberger, Chris Bristol, and Rhett Stonelake. Their debut album Absolutes was released in 2007. Universal Records signed Barcelona in 2008 and re-released Absolutes with four new songs in 2009. [6] [7]
Fennell currently performs under the solo project SYML, Welsh for "simple" and pronounced "sim-muhl", inspired by his own personal heritage from his biological parents, who are Welsh. [2] His experience grappling with his adoption and heritage are influences in his songwriting. [5]
He shared his self-titled debut album in 2019 [8] with the now Platinum-certified single "Where's My Love" and the wordless EP You Knew It Was Me in November 2020. In 2021, SYML released his third body of work, titled DIM inspired by his late father's cancer diagnosis. [9] Fennell believes the word 'dim' perfectly describes mourning, a theme he continues to visit throughout his work. [10]
After his song "Where's My Love" was used on the drama TV show Teen Wolf , the song charted for 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. [11] In 2018, the song received Gold certification in Canada and Belgium, [12] and held the #1 spot on Canada's CBC Top 20 charts twice. [13] [14] SYML's "Wildfire" appeared in the Belgian teen drama web series wtFOCK, an adaption of the Norwegian series SKAM. "Where's My Love" was featured prominently in the trailer for the 2018 film Adrift . SYML's singles "Where's My Love", "Fear of Water" and "Body" were featured in the American supernatural drama television series Shadowhunters. In 2020, "Where's My Love" appeared in the movie Chemical Hearts . [15]
SYML collaborated with Lana Del Rey on the song “Paris, Texas” which was released on March 24, 2023 on the album Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd . The song samples SYML’s instrumental track “I Wanted to Leave” from his EP You Knew It Was Me. [16]
On February 3, 2023, SYML released his sophomore album titled The Day My Father Died, which consists of 15 tracks. The album was produced by Phil Ek and includes collaborations with Lucius, Guy Garvey, Sara Watkins, and Charlotte Lawrence. Expanding on themes from his previous EP DIM, the album focuses on “what happens after we have lost.” [17]
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| SYML | 2019 |
| The Day My Father Died | 2023 |
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| Sacred Spaces [18] | 2021 |
| Title | Year | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Hurt for Me | 2016 | [19] |
| Where's My Love | 2017 | [1] |
| Hurt for Me (Piano & Strings) | [20] | |
| In My Body | 2018 | [21] |
| You Knew It Was Me | 2020 | [22] |
| Dim | 2021 | [23] |
| Ancient Call | [24] |
| Title | Year | Note(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Mr. Sandman" | 2017 | [25] | |
| "Where's My Love" | #35 Alternative Songs [26] | [29] | |
| "Wildfire" (Instrumentals) | 2018 | [30] | |
| "Clean Eyes" | #29 Alternative Songs [26] | ||
| "The Bird" | 2019 | ||
| "Symmetry" | |||
| "Take Me Apart" | |||
| "Flags" | 2020 | ||
| "True" | 2021 | ||
| "Stay Close" | |||
| "Sweet Home" | 2022 | ||
| "You and I" (featuring Charlotte Lawrence) | |||
| "Have a Little Faith in Me" | |||
| "Lost Myself" | |||
| "Lost Myself" (featuring Guy Garvey) | |||
| "Howling" (featuring Lucius) | |||
| "Better Part of Me" (featuring Sara Watkins) | |||
| "Wilderado" (Sure Fire SYML remix) | |||
| "I Wanted to Leave" (Sitar Version) (featuring Rishab Rikhiram Sharma) | |||
| "Chariot" | 2023 | #39 Adult Alternative Airplay [31] | |
| "Believer" | |||
| "Mother" | |||
| "Tragic Magic (Dream Version)" | |||
| "All of Us" | |||
| "My Best Self" (with Elsa y Elmar) |
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Paris, Texas" [32] | 2023 | Lana Del Rey | Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd |
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists.
Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto.
Steven Hiroyuki "Steve" Aoki is an American DJ and music producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours.
Troye Sivan Mellet is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his third EP, TRXYE (2014), which peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Happy Little Pill", reached the top 10 on Australian music charts. In 2015, he released his fourth extended play, Wild, followed by his debut studio album, Blue Neighbourhood. The album's lead single, "Youth", became Sivan's first single to enter the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 23.
Barcelona is a band from Seattle, Washington. The band's sound is harmonious and piano-based with elements of rock. Formed in 2005, the band cites U2, Coldplay, Copeland, Death Cab for Cutie, and Lovedrug as its influences. Barcelona independently released their debut album, Absolutes, in September 2007. They created their own label, NBD Music, in order to be able to focus on songwriting. On December 18, 2008, the band announced that they had been signed to the major record label Universal Records. Universal Records re-mixed "Absolutes" and Barcelona added four new songs. The new version of the album was released on April 28, 2009. They parted ways with the label in early 2010.
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–70s Americana. Her vintage Hollywood glamour aesthetic is presented not only in her music, but also in her music videos. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two Billboard Women in Music, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for eleven Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century". Rolling Stone placed Del Rey on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time (2023), and Rolling Stone UK named her The Greatest American Songwriter of the 21st century (2023).
American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has nine studio albums, three extended plays, 38 singles, 18 promotional singles and one box set. She also has one leaked demo album, which was not released officially. According to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Del Rey has sold 32 million singles and 15.5 million albums in the United States. Billboard ranked her as the 37th Top Rock Artist of the 2010s. Del Rey has also sold 7.1 million singles units in United Kingdom.
Taelor Deitcher, better known by his stage name Felix Cartal, is a Canadian DJ and electronic dance music producer. He released his first EP Skeleton in 2009 once he signed with Dim Mak Records. Since then he has gone on to release four full-length albums, 2010's Popular Music, 2012's Different Faces, 2018's Next Season, and 2021's Expensive Sounds for Nice People. Cartal has toured with Wolfgang Gartner, MSTRKRFT, and Bloody Beetroots. Cartal set the trend of collaborating with unpredictable vocalists in the dance scene such as Sebastien Grainger of Death from Above 1979, Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds and Johnny Whitney of The Blood Brothers.
Dillon Hart Francis, also known by his alter ego DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and "social media prankster". By deejaying and collaborating, Francis helped to popularize the new moombahton genre, and in 2012 he adapted it further into moombahcore and EDM trap, giving the music a harder sound, as heard on his EP Something, Something, Awesome. He expanded into EDM genres with Money Sucks, Friends Rule (2014), which hit number 2 on the Billboard dance chart, then shifted gears into Latin music with 2018's Wut Wut, a Spanish-language album honored with a Latin Grammy and a Latin American Music Award. The song "Sexo", with Residente featuring iLe, rose to number 43 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart in June 2018.
Adam George Dyment, better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and music producer. He is best known for his hit singles "Need U (100%)" "I Got U", "Won't Look Back" and "Ocean Drive" which both reached number one and number two on the UK Singles Chart respectively. He founded the record label called Blasé Boys Club and has also used it as an alias for production. He has remixed a number of songs, including several which have charted in the United Kingdom. In 2014, "Need U (100%)", was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Next year, "I Got U" was nominated in the same category.
Bleachers is an American rock band from New Jersey and the official stage name of songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff. Bleachers' rock music is heavily influenced by the late '80s, early '90s, and the high school-based films of John Hughes while still using modern production techniques. Their debut single "I Wanna Get Better" was released in February 2014, followed by three studio albums: Strange Desire (2014), Gone Now (2017), and Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (2021).
Kacy Anne Hill is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and former model.
"Edge of the Ocean" is a song by the American band Ivy for their third studio album, Long Distance (2000). Lead singer Dominique Durand wrote the song with band members Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, who both produced it. It was released as the album's lead single in the United States in June 2001, through Nettwerk. Various physical singles were distributed throughout the following year, in addition to an adult alternative airplay release in the US. The song is an electronic-inspired trip hop pop ballad with minimal and simplistic lyrics. Durand's vocals were described as childlike and compared to those of Karen Carpenter. American musician Michael Hampton, a member of Durand and Chase's other band Paco, contributes to the track's instrumentation.
Isabelle Rezazadeh, known by her stage name Rezz, is a Canadian DJ and record producer from Niagara Falls, Ontario. She released her debut EP, Insurrection in 2015 through OWSLA's sub-label Nest HQ. In 2016, she signed with record label mau5trap, and released follow-ups The Silence is Deafening and Something Wrong Here. On August 4, 2017, Rezazadeh released her debut studio album, Mass Manipulation, with its follow up, Certain Kind of Magic, released in 2018.
Colter Wall is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for his deep, gruff baritone and narrative songwriting, Wall's music encompasses country, folk, and western styles. In June 2015 he released an EP "Imaginary Appalachia". His self-titled debut album was released in May 2017, and his second album Songs of the Plains in October 2018. His third album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, was released in August 2020. His fourth album Little Songs was released on July 14, 2023.
The Beaches are a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 2013 by Jordan Miller, Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl, and Eliza Enman-McDaniel (drums). The band released two EPs titled The Beaches (2013) and Heights (2014) before signing to Island Records. In 2017, they released their debut album Late Show, which led to the band winning the 2018 Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year.
The Reklaws are a Canadian country music duo from North Dumfries, Ontario, formed in 2012. The duo consists of siblings Stuart and Jenna Walker. They have released three albums, Freshman Year, Sophomore Slump, and Good Ol' Days. The duo has achieved four number one hits with "Feels Like That", "Can't Help Myself", "11 Beers", and "Honky Tonkin' About" on the Canada Country chart, in addition to multiple gold and platinum certified singles.
John Callum Stewart, known professionally as JC Stewart or Callum Stewart, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter. In 2020, he went viral after Jennifer Aniston reposted his parody of the theme song from Friends. He released his EP When the Lights Hits the Room later that year.
Wild Rivers is a Canadian folk band from Toronto, Ontario. It consists of Devan Glover (vocals), Khalid Yassein, and Andrew Oliver. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2016. Their second studio album, Sidelines, was released on February 4, 2022.
Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, released on March 24, 2023, by Interscope and Polydor Records. The album features production by Del Rey, Mike Hermosa, Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, Zach Dawes, and Benji and includes collaborations with Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, SYML and Riopy.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
