.

.

Credit: Maximum Person

.

Praise for Gena Rose Bruce

“Overall, these are songs of innocence quickly turning to hard-won experience, on a lovely, affecting record.” – MOJO 4/5

“Full-blooded pop-rock with a twist” – Uncut 7/10

“Between this [Misery and Misfortune], her duet with Bill Callahan and the propulsive single Foolishly in Love, things are sounding pretty good for Bruce’s second album, Deep is the Way, which drops later this month.” – The Guardian AU

“…a joyous introduction to her forthcoming sophomore album.” – NOTION

“…a very promising indication of what to expect from the soundscapes and themes Bruce addresses on album two.” – NME

“…this lovely song [Deep Is The Way] steps forward with confident patience.” – The Guardian UK

.

Cementing herself in the upper echelons of Australian singer-songwriters, Gena Rose Bruce navigates emotional turmoil, fragility, death and honesty on her sophomore album Deep Is The Way out today via Dot Dash / Remote Control Records. Bruce will put these themes on show as she traverses the country in April with the announcement of her Australian tour – as well as tonight at her Rocksteady Records in-store – showcasing the live sensibilities picked up on supports for Orville Peck and Kevin Morby.

Deep Is the Way chronicles Bruce’s fraught path back into the light after a recurring dream wraith brought on by the passing of her partner’s mother and pandemic instability. On the album she processes death and inner turmoil to emerge with a newfound state of strength and resilience, working with long time collaborators and forging a new wildcard relationship.

Through lockdown Bruce corresponded with the iconic songwriter Bill Callahan, their connection resulting in them writing two songs together: ‘Foolishly In Love’ (full rotation on Double J) and the title track to the album, ‘Deep Is The Way’, which also features the two of them duetting and was added to Pitchfork’s Selects Playlist and featured in the top spot in The Guardian UK’s newspaper playlist column. “Working with Bill was very poetic and brought a feeling of nostalgia. We have only ever had written correspondence, sending lyrics back and forth to each other, with sometimes weeks in between responses, just analysing lyrics, there was no small talk, just keeping it about what’s important – the music.”  

.

.

Following the success of her acclaimed AMP-nominated debut Can’t Make You Love Me (NPR All Songs Considered, triple j, Herald Sun), Bruce had international touring planned, including stops in the US for SXSW, the UK and Japan. Then the pandemic flattened Bruce’s months of preparation, doubts about her future and artistic worth crept in. Her journey into balancing ambition and self-worth shows up on the burning slow-build track ‘Future’.

She found herself facing Melbourne’s extended lockdown, in a tiny apartment with a grieving partner, and her career in jeopardy – anxieties that bubble over in a white-water of arpeggiated synthesisers on ‘Misery and Misfortune’.

She began turning inwards and shutting down around friends and family. Her close relationships felt laboured and her responses in social interactions insincere. She even began questioning her commitment to her partner. On the baroque, Billie Holiday-inspired track, ‘I’m Not Made to Love Only You’ Bruce fantasises about the thrill of new romance with unflinching honesty; and on the album’s dancefloor-ready opening track ‘Foolishly in Love’, that heat feels palpably close.

Bruce’s journey inward led her to seminal psychoanalytical texts, including Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, in which he continues his exploration of humanity’s self-destructive tendencies. On the doom-laden ‘Destroy Myself’, with its buzzing synths and chugging guitars, Bruce reflects on her own dark compulsions.

Deep Is the Way is Bruce’s outlet for those emotions; but writing only gets you part of the way. It’s only through professional help and embracing the strength in her long-term relationship – found on the delicate piano tribute ‘Love’; and on ‘Harsh Light’, with its jagged Crowded House-like guitars and post Paul McCartney swing – that Bruce has found herself back literally on solid ground.

Stream / download Deep Is The Way: HERE

.

.

Gena Rose Bruce
Australian Tour

Saturday, 1st April
Meadow Festival, Bambra

Saturday, 8th April
Tanswell’s Commercial Hotel, Beechworth

Saturday, 15th April
Felons Barrel Hall, Brisbane

Sunday, 16th April
Jet Black Cat In-Store, Brisbane (AA)

Thursday, 20th April
The Vanguard, Sydney

Friday, 28th April
The Gaso, Melbourne

Saturday, 29 April
The Bridge, Castlemaine

.

.

Gena Rose Bruce
UK Tour

Tuesday, 2nd May
The Hug n Pint, Glasgow

Wednesday, 3rd May
Brudenell, Leeds

Thursday, 4th May
Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

Sunday, 7th May
YES basement, Manchester

Wednesday, 10th May
Servant Jazz Quarters, London

Tickets and more info here

.

Follow GENA ROSE BRUCE
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

.

AMNPLIFY – ML