Brent Penny Photo credit: Ash Dye
Chicago’s Brent Colbert has been releasing his experimental pop music for years, working with artists like Esmé Patterson, Gia Margaret, and appearing alongside Lala Lala. These artists fit in well with his songwriting project’s sound under the name Brent Penny too. He’s got one foot in the lane of alternative folk and the other in experimental dream-pop. Now announcing his EP, Rings Loud, The Big Takeover is proud to premiere his lead single “Need.”
“Need” sounds as dreamy as it is driving, kicking off with an electronic beat and a buoyant bass line. Colbert went back to his home of Minnesota a few years ago to work with producer Nat Harvie (Low, Circuit des Yeux, Trampled by Turtles) and Low’s Alan Sparhawk, who plays guitar and the drum machine on the song, and Colbert later enlisted Cole Pulice to add a soaring saxophone.
As the guitar and sax lift the song, the beat’s consistency and the bass’s repetition help keep “Need” grounded amid its spacier textures. Along with the rhythm section, Colbert’s voice is the song’s throughline with deadpan but confessional delivery. He said the song began with a synth hook loop, citing Alan Vega of Suicide as a big influence, and it came together as Sparhawk programmed drums and played guitar on the fly.
Said Colbert of the song,
“It’s a return to myself, my body, my truths after the feeling of a break-up. Cole Pulice’s sax adds a much more vast feeling of the inner world of this song, and Alan’s playing brought a unique feeling to the odd drum patterns and various guitar overlays. It was a special moment of collaborating together, and Nat was an amazing producer, allowing these songs to shape so naturally in that moment. The song is manic, but it’s more connected to my autonomy.”
Brent Penny will be releasing his EP Rings Loud in full later this fall on November 13.
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