Brother Elsey showcase their musical charm and emotional churn on their achingly impassioned inner reckoning “Wrong Things,” an intimate alt-rock anthem of self-sabotage and surrender taken off their upcoming self-titled debut album!
Stream: “Wrong Things” – Brother Elsey
I wrote the book and played out every scene; I’ve been doing wrong things…
It may be called “Wrong Things,” so why does Brother Elsey’s new single feel so right?
A good redemption arc can’t happen in the absence of turmoil; thankfully, the Tennessee four-piece’s latest offering has plenty of musical charm and emotional churn. An achingly impassioned inner reckoning, “Wrong Things” is an intimate alt-rock anthem of self-sabotage and surrender: Of recognizing your flaws, but being incapable – or unwilling – to change.
Bright lights won’t let me go to sleep
Dazing off in a hazy memory
Something about the way
I feel has got me paralyzed
I’m feeling the tides are shifting
I don’t wanna realize
You probably hate me now, but that’s alright
Sobering up to keep between the lines
I can’t feel my face anymore
Passing out on your front porch
Feels like I’ve been here before
I wrote the book and played out every scene
I’ve been doing wrong things
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Wrong Things,” a visceral and vulnerable eruption of inner angst and frustration. Brother Elsey’s fourth song of the year (following “Red Tape,” “Bolt Cutter Eyes,” and “Blameless Blue”) arrives alongside the announcement of the band’s highly anticipated debut album Brother Elsey, set to release January 31, 2025 via River House Artists.
“This album is a culmination of time, effort and experience from all four of us,” says vocalist and guitarist Brady Stablein, who for seven years now has led the band together with his own blood brothers Beau (bass) and Jack (lead guitar) and honorary kin Dalton Thomas (drums). “It feels like an arrival, like a ‘here we are’ – but instead of walking through the door, we’re pulling up a seat at the table. A lot has gone into this record, lots of time and emotion and learning, but mostly it’s whatever palpable angst and energy we could squeeze out of the periphery of our 20s. This record says we’re here, not just to say hi but to stick around a while and make ourselves at home.”
“I think this record is the most honest piece of work we’ve ever created,” Dalton Thomas adds. “I think there’s a song for everyone – a lot of humanity and growth from adolescence to adulthood, and the struggles that we all face in that transition. The years leading up to this were the hardest and most challenging times for us personally, and as a band. It’s honest because we lived it and I hope everyone can connect with a song to help them through some lessons we learned along our journey.”
“Wrong Things” is quintessential Brother Elsey: A fiery, feverish rush of charming, emotionally charged alternative rock with a light, dusty folk rock dusting (fitting of the Detroit-bred band’s adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee). The song itself is a brutally honest and unflinching inner reckoning: A mirror of self-deprecation and self-loathing held up in the cruel light of day.
That perfect life was out of reach
It’s like I take steps to better myself
then it’s all thrown back at me
I’ve been a mess I know enough
to know you’re leaving
Baby you’re blind you don’t think
that you could see yourself in me
You probably hate me now but that’s alright
Sobering up to keep between the lines
I can’t feel my face anymore
Passing out on your front porch
Feels like I’ve been here before
I wrote the book and played out every scene
I’ve been doing wrong things
The caveat? While Brady Stablein’s narrator knows he’s “been doing wrong thing,” he can’t get himself out of these toxic cycles of action, impulse, and regret. “I’ve been a mess,” he confesses. “I know enough to know you’re leaving.” Yet this isn’t some helpless plea for assistance or saving – there will be no liberation or salvation in this story; rather, “Wrong Things” roars to and fro as a cinematic statement of inertia; of depression; of heartache and surrender.
“‘Wrong Things’ is a song about self-sabotage,” Brady Stablein tells Atwood Magazine. “I think that’s something deeply relatable to most people trudging through life, just trying to get it right. Sometimes it feels like the only way is to ignore the good entirely and lean into the worst parts of yourself.”
“It’s not in the wrong actions themselves that you might find some solutions to your problems, but in the later reflection of what you’ve done that might be what’s needed. Keep doing the wrong thing long enough and it might lead the way to the right things.”
Keep doing the wrong thing long enough and it might lead the way to the right things.
If honesty is in fact the best policy, then at least “Wrong Things” follows code – and the next chapter in this narrator’s journey can be one of growth and healing. But that’s a story for another time; for now, get lost in the ache and churn of “Wrong Things” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more much to come from Nashville’s Brother Elsey as they unveil more tracks off their debut album!
The eponymous Brother Elsey is out January 31, 2025 via River House Artists.
I’m screaming from the other side of paradise
I’m wasted in the yard I can’t find my pride
It’s cold outside, it’s cold outside
You probably hate me now but that’s alright
Sobering up to keep between the lines
I can’t feel my face anymore
Passing out on your front porch
Feels like I’ve been here before
I wrote the book and played out every scene
I’ve been doing wrong things
Yeah I’ve been doing wrong things
— —
:: stream/purchase Wrong Things here ::
:: connect with Brother Elsey here ::
Stream: “Wrong Things” – Brother Elsey
— — — —
Connect to Brother Elsey on
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Luke Rogers
© Luke Rogers:: Stream Brother Elsey ::
