From Munich, I give you one of Germany’s most exciting bands- Brave Young Years. With the weather finally going to back to normal, Brave Young Years make the kind of music that fits the mood of the days getting darker quicker and the sky becoming more and greyer. They have this mood within their sound that is something you, after just one listen, realise it’s something you’ve needed for a while.

Brave Young Years have been going for a few years now, but they have only just released their debut record. As far as debut records go, this one is one to remember for years to come. The mood is bleak, tense and poetic. It’s a pleasure to listen to. It reminds me of very early Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, and perhaps remnants of Rowland S. Howard’s Pop Crimes. It’s a haunting record and the darkness that flows throughout this record is something I can’t get enough of. I love the despair that comes through and seeps deep right into your soul. Bands like this don’t come around often but once you find them, you really cannot live without them.

Through is a song that has some really intense lyrics, and the sheer emotion that comes out in the vocals is something that keeps you on edge. You tense up and you feel every single word. You get that a lot on this record, but this song in particular really pushes it.  The way that the line, “I pushed you away in a slightly pathetic way, and spared us a bit of time” is sung really gets you right in the gut. The whole record is made up of songs that one could take as being painful, but at the same time you feel totally comforted by the words and how they just get you. By no means is this for everyone, but those who “get” it will never let this band and these songs go. With just one record they have created something so powerful and so moving. I can’t get enough of this record, and I think it’s something I’ve definitely been needing to hear, sound wise, for a long time. I love the atmosphere they have created on this record. It feels like it is a soundtrack to an eerie film that does not have a happy ending. It’s a truly powerful record, and it’s not for the faint-hearted at all.

Without getting repetitive and overbearing about it, I really love their music so much. It is the other side of what I love for music and what I look for in music. I absolutely adore bands like Brave Young Years because they are unafraid to show this side and to express this beautiful darkness in their sound. Some may regard it as morbid, but it’s not like that at all. Their lyrics are brutally honest and beautifully vulnerable. This fearlessness to be this open is something I really respect and love, and the way the music and lyrics go together is just stunning. Everything is so vital but nothing is overlooked. Nothing is more dominant than the other- every element of their songs is intense and created in a way that keeps you hooked.

Brave Young Years are an exceptionally passionate band who take you on this chilling journey. If they can be fearless, then so can you. I’m just in awe of how dark the lyrics can get and how even though a lot are rigged with pain, there is so much beauty in these songs. A beauty that will always keep you listening to them. I just love them, and the way they create this tension in their music is something I can’t get enough of.