Brodka - Brut (PIAS, 2021)
Polish alt-pop superstar Brodka releases new album, BRUT on [PIAS] Recordings.
Monika Maria Brodka is a Polish singer, who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of Polish Pop Idol (Idol) in 2004. She has since released 3 albums, including the 2010 album Granda which received critical acclaim in Poland and abroad.
Brodka announces new album Brut, a powerful examination of gender, self-image and society.
Hot on the heels of her Speedy Wunderground 7” ‘Wrong Party’, Brut was recorded with Boxed In’s Oli Bayston (Kelly Lee Owens, Loyle Carner) and finds Brodka blurring the boundaries between natural and synthetic sounds. Post-punk riffs, icy synths and the serrated, heavily-processed guitar sounds that slice through glittering electro-pop to bring an industrial edge to the brutalism-inspired vision.
BRUT is a powerful examination of gender, self-image and society, the album finds Brodka pushing her already eclectic artistic vision somewhere entirely unique, combining post-punk riffs, icy synths and serrated, heavily-processed guitar sounds that slice through glittering electro-pop.
BRUT finds Brodka blurring the boundaries between natural and synthetic sounds, with a dystopian air hanging over much of the record in part due to the shadow of the ongoing struggle in Poland for reproductive rights.
“Most of my life I’ve not matched the role that society wants me to play,” she says of challenging perceptions by creating a figure that incorporates traditional traits of both femininity and masculinity. “I’m seen as having lots of masculine features, but then I have quite a pretty, innocent face. I always had the feeling that my inner self doesn’t really match my outer self.”
Whilst reclaiming her authentic identity in the face of the pressures of patriarchal society, Brodka has created the most compelling music of her career.
And in doing so, she’s cemented her status as the European breakout artist to watch.
NMR (foto: press Brodka)
