Brasstronaut

Brasstronaut is a Vancouver, Canada-based group active from 2008. The band forms around Edo Van Breemen, Bryan Davies, Brennan Saul and John Walsh. Its earlier line-ups also include Sam Davidson on clarinet and EWI and Tariq Hussain on lap steel and electric guitar.

Origins and early releases

Brasstronaut begins as a duo after Edo Van Breemen and Bryan Davis meet at a house party in Vancouver and record a collection of original songs that becomes the Old World Lies EP. The group forms in 2007 and grows from that initial project into a full band.

Albums and sound

The band releases its first full-length album, Mount Chimaera, in 2010. It is recorded during a residency at the Banff Centre, a multidisciplinary facility in the Rocky Mountains. The album brings the band wider international attention and is noted for drawing praise from critics including Gilles Peterson and the Independent, who describes the group’s sound as “a new way forward”.

Brasstronaut’s later album Mean Sun is released on Tin Angel Records. It appears in Canada in May 2012 and in Europe in October. The record is recorded by producer Colin Stewart, whose credits include Yukon Blonde, Dan Mangan and A.C. Newman. The band’s music combines jazz, rock, pop and electronica, with chamber-pop and indie elements also associated with its sound.

Recognition and touring

After early attention from Pitchfork and Hypem, Brasstronaut plays festivals including SXSW and Iceland Airwaves. The group also appears at The Great Escape, Reeperbahn and Waves Vienna during European touring. It wins the 2010 SOCAN Echo Songwriting Prize and is longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.