Premiere: Guthrie Brown twists folk into chilled R&B on new EP, ‘Keeping On’ -

Life isn’t meant to be comfortable, a sequence of fleeting moments as pleasantly forgettable as the last. We’re born with a collection of devices at our fingertips, and we can challenge normalcy if we so dare. Flighty and resistant, Nashville transplant Guthrie Brown is never further from the ground than he is when taking risks, owning his one and only shot with abandon. It’s not reckless; it’s just feels right. “If we live for nothing, that’s what we get / Always wanting something from our consciousness,” he sings on the titular cut to his brand new EP, Keeping On. He bares witness to the proclamation of living an honest life doing what he loves. Originally from the self-proclaimed “old Montana,” Brown slips between his reliably grounded folk songwriting and the kind of ice-tea-stirred R&B music of the highest order.

Equal credit goes to producer and Grammy winner Jacquire King, known for his work with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits and Norah Jones, whose personal touches and care radiates from the inside out. “Keeping On” lures you in with a bluesy bait, and you stay for the funk, Brown rising to the occasion with enough swagger to put many of mainstream’s movers and shakers to great shame. He starts in second gear but quickly ascends to third with the Ed Sheeran-chomp of “Easy Come Easy GO,” a levitation act that’s both relaxed and spellbinding. With “Sweet Angel,” a devilish and sneaky Frankie Valli-worthy crooner, Brown is at his most charming, and the production swings low before shooting high. “Actions speak louder than the words I scream,” he sings, frolicking along with the steely guitar grooves and misty drum waltz. He whirls across the dance-floor with an elegant ease, and his grace, in fact, speaks much louder than you might expect. In a word, the performance is marvelous.

The 24-year-old, who set up shop in Music City eight years ago, hasn’t necessarily tossed out his previous indie-rock style (as you can hear in heavy doses on 2016’s Natural EP), but his recalibration is, well, a natural progression. His otherworldly presence continues to live on in his new work, and the music buds and flourishes in ways to further cement his talents. The melodies are given a second chance to truly thrive on their own, his voice simply the proper vehicle.

His Keeping On EP, premiering today, chronicles “a year of growing pains within relationships and being motivated to take a dip into foreign waters,” Brown tells B-Sides & Badlands. “Jacquire and I both wanted to make something that was different than anything I had done before. We did a lot of experimenting with sounds and programming to set up the sonic landscape for each song, while still trying to maintain cohesiveness throughout the EP.”

“Don’t Blame It on My Love,” branded with an intergalactic electric guitar line, saunters between decades, eerily reminiscent of another time and place altogether that’s been long forgotten and buried in barely lingering memories. The subtle flecks of modernisms certainly grounds it in the here and now, but even Brown’s vocal seems trapped outside the space-time continuum, forever permanent and defying logic. “Someone once told me that every record you make is a time capsule to remind you of where you were at in life when you made it,” he says. “I’m very proud of this time capsule and am beyond grateful to be able to express the highs and lows of life through songs.”

“Don’t ever let up / Oh no, show me everything that you are,” he later acknowledges on “Edge of the World,” both turning a new page and bookending his sojourn into complete enlightenment. “This world is full of choices we all must face,” he sings. Arriving on such life-affirming discoveries hasn’t been easy for him, but Brown relishes the bottoming out as much as he has the triumphant gains. And we should, too.

Brown’s Keeping On EP drops everywhere this Friday (August 31) on Sony BMG.

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