“It was the first song we wrote that felt like it was part of the Macro world, and we wrote the initial version with only guitar and voice which was a new process for us,” said Brijean Murphy – percussionist/singer/songwriter and one-half of Oakland-based psychedelic pop outfit Brijean, alongside multi-instrumentalist/producer Doug Stuart – of the duo’s latest single, “Counting Sheep,” which dropped last Friday, coinciding with the release of the band’s fourth full-length, Macro, which comes courtesy of Ghostly International.
However, upon the album release, Murphy also admitted that the ballad – which serves as the LP’s fourth single — almost didn’t make the final cut: “When we were nearly done with the record, we thought that ‘Counting Sheep’ might not be on the final tracklist, but we remixed it on a whim one late night and arrived at the version that exists on Macro. It was powerful to feel the song transform so dramatically while also keeping the thumbprint of what we loved about it.”
Brijean’s latest sounds have been earning critical praise since lead single “Workin’ On It” dropped this April. The FADER says, “Brijean Murphy’s new song pokes gentle fun at wellness and the idea of self-improvement as a lifestyle. A liquid bassline and rolling percussion give the song a weightless groove over which Murphy ruminates on her efforts to ditch apathy, discover new depths, and generally make positive changes in life,” while UPROXX calls it, “a delectably groovy, funky pop song with loads of auxiliary percussion, wah-wah, and slick bass playing.” NPR Music’s Tom Huizenga even admits, “There’s not a millisecond of this song that just doesn’t bring joy to my life.”
On the night of their album release, Brijean kicked off a month of headlining dates in Chicago, which will have them at our very own Johnny Brenda’s this Saturday, July 20th, where they’ll be joined by Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based experimental producer and composer Colloboh, who will be opening the evening. Get your tickets below, and check out Brijean’s music videos for recent singles “Counting Sheep” and “Euphoric Avenue,” in addition to the official visualizer for “Workin’ On It.”
*Get your tickets here.
