Brye shares a transformative and urgent commentary on the cultural obstacles that exist between insecurities and acceptance on her debut album, RECOVER. She’s currently on tour with Addison Grace, also featured on the album, with an upcoming performance at the Echoplex in Los Angeles on November 18th. Throughout its nine tracks, she pieces together fiercely honest but ultimately uplifting indie pop anthems that compel self-reflection and self-love.
On the album’s title track, “Recover,“ she details lucidly her journey toward that coveted embrace of the self. Revealing every day is a tentative balancing act that confronts societal body standards disguised as health and wellness movements.
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate and pay our staff. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
“But I’d rather be bigger / I’d rather quote ‘fail,'” she sings alongside the song’s effervescent melody. “Than lose another second / Of my life to the scale.”
“Diet Culture,” one of the album’s singles, is a scathing criticism of how people around her conflate healthiness with thinness. The exuberant “Nothing!” unfolds as a breezily punchy anthem that finds Brye making the challenging but essential decision to disengage from those who feel threatened — like middle-aged gym bros with too much free time online — by the love she has for her body exactly as it is.
“And I’m planning my reply / Wasting my energy / On some unimportant guy / Only trying to bait me / And the more time that I spend on him / The less I spend on me.”
“Jenna” (feat. Addison Grace) navigates queer first love and the dark clouds of latent religious shame that hang over it, the song’s radiant rhythms outshining that fearfully instilled guilt with its gushing affection. But such an earnest affirmation of love is not so easily kindled as the brooding and shuddering electronica of “Too Sensitive” reveals — “Bitter voices, bigger noises, triggers / I’m too sensitive for my own good,” she wails.
Brye widens her ruminations on the lilting and subdued pop track “Ode to a Recession,” honing in on the generational anxiety that comes with realizing the financial obstacles between her and the simple comforts of owning a home or starting a family. Yet it’s the album’s closing track, “Direct Message” — spurred by a message from a fan searching for that same path beyond eating disorders and body dysmorphia — that’s without a doubt its most devastatingly heartfelt.
“And I don’t know what to tell her / I’m not an expert,” she murmurs gently but anxiously. “I don’t have a cookie cutter answer.” But the song spotlights what makes Brye’s music so vital, as the goal of being happy with oneself isn’t a permanent destination but rather a constant trek sustained by defiant affirmations that you alone should have autonomy over.
Words: Steven Ward
See Brye at the Echoplex in Los Angeles on November 18th.
Visit Brye on their website, TikTok, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
