Brutus Begins

This psych-folk-indie track orientates around a simple but imaginative set of piano chords that take the song from space age to minimalistic. It’s all about disillusionment flowering into crisis all wrapped up in a simple poetic manner.

Brutus Begins is a project by psych-folk artist Ricardo Temporao. Resampling and processing elements of nature, acoustic instruments and synthesizers to create a sonic landscape that blurs the lines between the real and the reconstructed, he tackles the impossible. ‘The Nothing Here’ shows off this ability to create from scratch and build a track up from nothing take everything step by step in this dream like state Temporao is able to create between each ear.

The songwriting and storytelling remain the heart of the song and within a world that mirrors our own its hard for the track to simply exist. Not only that but the track also mirrors different elements of 70s lo-fi and early nineties power bands such as The Verve and early Oasis. Creating a whole wave of emotions its hard to just sit back and listen to this track as it washes over you commenting on our ambitions and ultimately our evolution.



Review by Charlie Hall - Xune Mag

There's the flanged and woozy lead vocal on the verse, and then some Daft Punk falsetto for the chorus. It is a medicated sound that is darkly therapeutic. Brutus Begins, with their new single The Nothing Here, gives us a feeling of electrons marching, where everything is analog synthesizer, eighth notes, and tremolo-ed reverb.

It's a simple hook, with a few power chords on the dirty guitar. This is late-night party music, a bold spotlight on the common beauty of stylized lethargy and liquid depressants. - ChillFiltr

Brutus Begins - Uncanny Valley 2016

4.0 out of 5

By J Simpson
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More like "augmented valley," Portuguese-Canadian musician/producer Brutus Begins explores the interplay of the artificial and the organic on Uncanny Valley with stunning results.

The "Uncanny Valley" is a popular digital theory, based on the theory of the uncanny by Sigmund Freud, to explain the repulsion we feel when manufactured items become too close to humanoid. When automatons become too lifelike, they begin to look like jittering corpses with frozen rictuses, cavorting in glee. "Augmented Reality" however, is the interplay of the digital and the mundane, via devices like Google Glass, Microsoft's Holo Lens, and other ways to break out the Digital World into waking reality.

In light of this distinction, Brutus Begins' Uncanny Valley is definitely much more augmented than uncanny, as Ricardo Temparao's beguiling mixture of rock instruments and electronic music is as addicting and inviting as a soma hit in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Impressively, Brutus Begins' art rock throws back to similar futurist opuses of the '70s, most specifically David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy with Brian Eno at the helm, complete with soaring Fripp guitar solos and deep, powerful bass synth that sucks you down into the depths like some mammoth tar pit. Considering that the Berlin trilogy is some of the earliest, best and most beloved synth/pop hybridizations ever, this is high praise indeed.

Temparao's vocals have a similarly hypnotic, psychedelic quality to Bowie's, or similar psychonauts like Syd Barrett or John Lennon, as with the album opener "Never Fade" featuring an "I Am The Walrus"-like chorus. Please do note we're referencing some of the highest quality, biggest budget, most notorious technological psychedelic rock records OF ALL TIME - not too shabby for a debut EP.

This may be Brutus Begins' beginning, but it's not Temparao's first rodeo. He’s played in several notable Canadian bands, as well as composing music for several short films and TV programs, and directing several music videos. All of this experience combines to create one of the most compelling and high-quality debuts we've heard in a decade. Definitely expect great things from Brutus Begins!

If you like Bowie, T. Rex, early Death Cab For Cutie, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, or recent pop/rock/electronic hybrids like Moderat, get this immediately and tell everyone you know! Art like this will only grow and flourish if it's supported. Somehow we think Brutus Begins will have no trouble turning a few heads, but why not make it easy for them, and claim some bragging rights along the way! - No More Division

Portuguese Canadians are a talented bunch when it comes to music: Desman, Mendes, Furtado, and more have seen great success. Ricardo Temporao is a name to bookmark, or perhaps his recording alias Brutus Begins. His 2016 album Uncanny Valley strikes us as what may result if The Beatles’ Rubber Soul era consolidated itself with the early music of The Cars. Indie folk-rock joins electronic new wave in a modern version of Steve Miller. It is a juggernaut of a debut and waiting to be discovered like a treasure trove. Running the danger of overemphasizing its unique sound, we assert what is always more important: very strong songwriting. Put Uncanny Valley on for an adventurous, very enjoyable ride. - Canadian Music Blog

"Brutus Begins cooks up a moody brew of electronics and indie-folk. Deep bass synths provide the gravitas and groove, while vocal harmonies and cool arrangement spice things up."

- Mark Anthony Brennan - Ride the Tempo

"...clever lyrics ... and feeling with which they’re expertly delivered ... intelligently rendered arrangements, without being derivative"

Rod Nicholson - The Scene

"The best demo you'll hear in all of 2016"

Review

Brutus Begins don’t appear to care how other bands sound or what this hour’s zeitgest is because they are led from their own internal machinations. Now that is refreshing, despite a production that might be a little away from pristine, and something to be cherished in an increasingly homogeneous music world. ‘Never Fade’ is calm, cool and collected and chooses the right moments to burst forth with incandescent melody and ever so lovely chorus. That it sustains itself for almost 5 minutes just illustrates the confidence this band possess. Pretty exciting all told, a band with oodles of potential that will likely unveil a canon of winning numbers before too long. - Kevin Hugger @mp3hugger

On "Never Fade" by Brutus Begins, the band lays down five minutes of brooding, introspective indie rock that borrows heavily from bands like Death Cab For Cutie, while at the same time carving out a sound that is all their own. Some heavy synth bass in the second verse and serene split male/female vocal harmonizing elevate the song to an entirely new level, and as the synth lead into the third verse is inspired to say the least. There's nothing overly complex going on here musically, yet "Never Fade" is deceptively dense in its layers of musical intricacy. And therein lies the genius of Brutus Begins: they aren't trying to come across as virtuoso players, and yet the sum total of the entire musical arrangement is exactly that. Clever synth hooks abound, burrowing their way deep inside the listener's head for a permanent hibernation that will no doubt outlast the Winter of 2016! - Aside Beside

Brutus Begins is a Canadian indie/alt-rock band that is still really fresh with just a three song EP (3P) under their belts so far. Those three songs are pretty great, though and filled with inspiration from some of my favourite alt-rock bands like Cage the Elephant, Rural Alberta Advantage and Born Ruffians.

3P kicks off with Never Fade, a mellow tune about the importance of living life and enjoying the journey. The first lines are, “no sleep, fuck sleep, I’ll save sleep for the grave,” and they’re sang in a very chill voice that almost sounds bored. That is, until they kick it up a notch with the chorus and add a little more synth, a little more percussion and some layered vocals. It’s pretty obvious that this song will probably be their single and a successful one at that.

Hunger Stays reminds me so much of a combination of City and Colour and Hey Rosetta! I think it has a lot to do with the chorus and the layered vocals. My favourite part about this tune is the keyboard in the background, it’s a nice touch to the pretty simplistic guitar and percussion.

The final song on the album is Mind Is A Gun, and it’s the first time we hear something a tiny bit more grungy and rock from Brutus Begins. Although the vocals hold onto that low-energy, deep sound, the guitar is a bit more prominent and the drummer puts a little bit more oomph into the chorus. The song definitely has that “internal struggle” feel with lyrics like “can’t turn my brain off,” and “I kinda hate myself.” The angst is strong in this one.

As much as I enjoyed this EP from Brutus Begins, I honestly had a bit of trouble reviewing it. I love the indie/alt-rock sound but except for a bit of a unique guitar riff in their third song, Mind Is A Gun, the three songs on the album sound a lot alike. It’s almost as if they all just run together and create one 11 minute song. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it could just mean that the band has really nailed their niche and their writing style, but it couldn’t hurt to switch things up a bit as Brutus Begins grows and matures as a band. - Creative Control

"sincere music with "Beatlesque" lyrics and resounding harmonies" - Music Arts Monthly

A Fresh Find - Alan Cross

"'Uncanny Valley' comprises of seven quite varied songs….this is a consistently good collection of songs. It is also an example of how electronic music, mixed with natural sounds and instruments really can move in so many different styles and directions."

Astari Nite - Beehive Candy