A beautiful debut offering from Little Brother – the musical brainchild of Dan Brunskill.

The EP was written by Dan alongside Little Brother musicians, David Robinson and Jono Croucher. Fraser Browne (Paper Cranes) mixed and produced the self-title EP and co-wrote the final song ‘Salt & Light’.

Little Brother is a delicate, indie-folk driven EP, opening with ‘Thrown in the Ocean’. Some tasteful guitars create a lush soundscape in the depths of this song that supplement the driving drums and the meaty acoustic guitar licks. ​

‘Darkroom Chemicals’ again shows the alternative sensibilities of the record, with synth and keys surrounding the long bowed cello and introspective lyrics. We get a glimpse into the slight melancholy of Dan’s lyrics.

“How shall I live? Shall I sing until I’m cynical?” 

It’s the second half of Little Brother that took our fancy.

​’Nocturne for Laura’ was written with Jono Croucher, and you can hear the arrangement for cello immediately with beautiful intricate guitar work and cello melodies. It’s not often a four track from a songwriter will feature an instrumental track but this song is our highlight. Simply done, beautiful work from both instrumentalists.

‘Salt & Fire’ is the single of the record for us, Dan’s voice is perfectly augmented by guitar harmonies, making for interesting, constantly moving and slightly off-kilter melodies and interludes. The song builds, with keyboards, layers of instrumentation and a simple drum beat before the cello cuts through the mix.

Credit where credit is due to Fraser and Dan for a beautiful job at production.

Closing out the EP are the impeccable and touching lyrics of ‘Salt & Fire’.

“I’m not the one that you’ve been searching for, though i got places more, for you to hide.” 
(FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT

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