NYC-based artist Breanna Barbara today announces her second album, Nothin’ But Time out 11th November via Fuzz Club – a raw and immersive trip through the sounds of psychedelic rock and blues, anchored by her forceful vocals and unforgettable songwriting. Sporting a sound that feels classic and of-the-moment at the same time.
She also shares lead single and album opener ‘Diamond Light’, with an accompanying video, which features rolling drums and miles-long guitar lines, as Barbara’s sublime voice cuts through the atmosphere while ruminating on nostalgia and the perils of looking back.
“Diamond Light is a song about memory and how it can change through your perception of time. Someone once said that life is like riding on a train backwards, you’re moving forward but you can only see where you’ve been. I have these memories from when I was a little girl and the older I get the more I start to see them in different ways. I equate Diamond Light to those shimmering moments that stick out in your brain and continue to move through time with different facets and faces, sort of like a diamond.”
“The video idea came after meeting up with my friend/director Kevin Jacobsen when I told him what the song was about and some memories I had when I was a little girl and how differently I see them now. He came up with this touching storyline that I found sad but also really beautiful. It was shot on March 15, 2020, the day our world changed and coincidentally on my birthday (also the Ides of March for those who are counting, there’s some serious juju on this day.) I will never forget that day just because it was like something out of a movie while simultaneously trying to create one. We had people cancelling left and right because of the news but everyone that did show up was dedicated to making it happen. I cherish this video for so many reasons but mostly because it is a keepsake for the world before. Creating art has never been easy but I’m so grateful we got to make it that day when everything was turning on its head, even just to dance a little.”
Nothin But Time arrives following Breanna’s 2016 debut Mirage Dreams, a trio of critically acclaimed singles (most recently ‘New Moon’) and a number of collaborations with legendary trip-hop vanguard Tricky. As well as joining his US touring band as lead female vocalist, Breanna also did an official rework of his ‘When We Die’ track and featured on the 2021 Lonely Guest album, False Idols.
For the recording of Nothin’ But Time, Barbara and her band returned to Nashville’s Bomb Shelter studio with Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff) – with whom she recorded Mirage Dreams. With musical contributions from Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather), Tall Juan, Derry DeBorja (Jason Isbell), and Champagne Superchillin’s Ben Trimble and Charles Garmendia, the album was put to tape in the months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic: “I’d learned so much since the last time we were in the studio that I knew I could have a stronger voice getting back into the studio again.”
Nothin’ But Time reflects Barbara’s headlong journey into the world of psychedelic rock and pop, mixing these heady styles with her already established hard-driving blues-rock approach with warped theremin tones as well as celestial vibes courtesy of DeBorja’s own synth wizardry, as Barbara and her band sought out to create mind-expanding music that’s also firmly rooted in the real. “I wanted to make a record that reflected what was going on in the world and outside of myself, while exploring my sound more.”
