Feelings

The sophomore album from Oakland, Californias Brijean, 2021s Feelings finds the duo further expanding their trippy, sun-dappled brand of AM pop and dance music. The record follows 2018s Walkie Talkie and again features the talents of singer/percussionist Brijean Murphy and bassist/instrumentalist Doug Stuart. Murphy, the daughter of drummer/engineer Patrick Murphy, has worked with artists like U.S. Girls, Poolside, and Toro Y Moi. Similarly, Stuart, a Chicago native who studied jazz at the University of Michigan, has contributed to projects with Bells Atlas, Meernaa, Luke Temple, and Jay Stone. They bring all of their experience to bear in Brijean, drawing inspiration from their love of 70s funk, psychedelic Latin soul, and Day-Glo 90s house music. Its a buoyant sound that brings to mind a vibrant mix of artists like Deee-Lite, Greyboy Allstars, and Stereolab. Vocally, Murphy has a stylishly flat resonance that evokes iconic singers like Astrud Gilberto and Nico. Its a perfect fit for the duos vintage-inspired recordings that wouldnt sound out of place pumping from a car stereo at the beach in 1970s Rio de Janeiro. That said, with their sparkling keyboards, Latin rhythms, and supple bass grooves, tracks like Softened Thoughts, Daydreaming, and Hey Boy have a woozy, out-of-time quality that could land them in any decade between 1968 and 2021. Theres also a cinematic quality to Brijeans music, and listening to hypnotic, neon productions like Lathered in Gold and Wifi Beach, you can imagine yourself walking along a beach at dusk or cruising the sunset strip in a convertible. ~ Matt Collar