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With the blunt end of a lyric and a sharp guitar rhythm behind him, Jonathan Brenner finds his way through the strings with a delicate attitude as “Hangin’ on the Edge over You” begins to play, every note seeming to reverberate into the atmosphere and come chasing back after his words but moments later. In songs like this one and its Instagram Success neighbor “Key to My Heart,” Brenner rejects overcomplicated compositional techniques in favor of preserving an old-school folk/rock model not often espoused by mainstream artists anymore, and in doing so turns in one of the more elegant records of its kind to be released in the last year.
URL: https://jonathanbrennermusic.com/
“Key to My Heart” came out a little ahead of the full tracklist for Instagram Success, and I can see why Brenner might choose it to be a teaser single. Much like that of the dark vocal melodies of “Writing a Song Together,” as well as its sibling in “It’s a Dyin’ Art,” the textures we find in this song do so much of the heavy lifting aesthetically that our main man doesn’t have to do a heck of a lot besides sing. He’s got a lot of passion to be distributed, but it comes out evenly, across every track here.
“Jesus Loves the Poor” is one of the more reserved performances that you can expect to hear in Instagram Success, and though it isn’t quite as angsty as “Silly Little Habit” is, it’s a poetic exercise of self-awareness on the part of Jonathan Brenner regardless. He isn’t hiding behind any of the silly platitudes and metaphors that so many of his contemporaries have become creatively dependent on; rather than pursuing a watered-down compositional format in this latest release, Brenner is sticking with the sort of identity-driven soundtrack that I would anticipate hearing from a seasoned studio veteran long before I would someone developing a sophomore LP.
There’s a retro indie rock vibe to “The Balla of Orson Jones” that seemed reminiscent of the post-punk movement in spots in my first couple of listening sessions with Instagram Success, and while it’s hinted at in “Little Lost Lamb in Dixieland” and, to a lesser extent, the pastoral “Ride That Money Train,” I don’t know that I would describe all of the material on this record as bearing a throwback indie rock stylization. Truth be told, there’s no easy way to categorize tracks like “Not Gettin’ Drunk, Not Gettin’ High” and the album-opening title track, and if I had to guess, I’d say that Jonathan Brenner prefers it this way.
Instagram Success is a strong second effort from singer/songwriter Jonathan Brenner that exceeds what I had hoped it would sound like and then some, and among the indie records I have listened to this spring, I think this one ranked close to the top for self-aware content. I’m excited to hear what this guy creates in the next few years especially, because if this were to represent some sort of an artistic peak for his career, it would come as a great shock to me. He’s just getting started, and that’s more than evident when looking at any of these tracks.
Jennifer Munoz
