By Charlie Maybee
It’s no joke that DMV based singer-songwriter, Linc Bradham, is dropping a new single on April 1 titled “You Awoke Me”, a funk/R&B inspired break up song tinged with the sweet sound of melancholy guitars – where the feel of old school electric blues meets classic rock.
There’s a sense of undulation that pulses through the track, especially at the chorus where Bradham sings his emotional mantra “Yeah, you broke me / but I don’t wanna break you”. It lurches like the feeling of betrayal and hurt in your chest allowing for sweet catharsis. Coming out on the other side of it, the song makes space for healing and reflection by moving through, rather than around, these feelings.
In that emotional movement, there’s also plenty of good grooves and riffs to provide a physical release by swaying and swinging along. “Sometimes breakups hurt…” Bradham notes, “but sometimes, in spite of them, we just want to get up and dance!”. Through these infectious rhythms and enormous tempo shifts, there’s plenty of feel to fuel a night of dancing footloose style.
With instrumentation provided by Max Christman, Darien Converse, and Daniel Seriff, the full-fledged energy of this new track sends you on a journey. Pulling from personal experiences of loss and adapting to change, Bradham reflects that it was “Written about the dichotomy of feelings that arise during a breakup, or on a more personal level, divorce…the last thing I ever expected to go through at the age of 25. Wanting the best, feeling the roughest, but persevering through it all…You Awoke Me came to be the ultimate way to process the intense emotions surrounding six years of relationship, three of which were married, before finally letting go and wanting the best for the other person, leaving gratitude for the times shared”.
As the second single foreshadowing Bradham’s upcoming a full length 16-song LP, Learning (releasing on May 27, 2022), “You Awoke Me” is an astonishing effort that showcases the emotional depth of his songwriting and leaves us excited for what’s to come.
“You Awoke Me” will be available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music on Friday, April 1, 2022. Find it on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture on Spotify, and join us on April 6, 2022 for a live Q&A with Linc Bradham and fellow DMV artist, Ben DeHan.
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Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
