Although they will be touching down in multiple cities worldwide, alt-pop duo Balu Brigada have NYC on their mind ahead of several tour dates in the coming months with “The Question” out now via ARRO/Atlantic Records. One of those Balu Brigada tour dates is a sold-out LA show at The Echo on Feb. 27. However, after their Echo gig, the band will play an exclusive show at No Vacancy in Hollywood on Friday, 28.
Before they moved to New York, brothers Henry and Pierre Beasley first began as a four-piece alongside their brother and childhood friend back when they were still going by Baloo, the name of the bear from “The Jungle Book.” Following a name change and becoming a duo, Henry and Pierre became multi-instrumentalists, making them take on more duties but forcing them to think outside the box for every subsequent release.
By 2022, Balu Brigada hit their stride with the I Should Be Home EP, their big label debut, which found the two ready for the radio with their pop-leaning brand of rock music. Similarly, “The Question” takes the brothers’ experience of moving to NYC and spins it into alternative rock music reminiscent of the 2010s.
“‘The Question’ is a late night love song set in some of the grungier parts of New York City” said Balu Brigada. “We’d been roaming around the lower east side a lot at the time we were writing it, and despite the song being a fictional narrative, a lot of the lyrics are drawn from some of the characters we had met.”
Thanks to a moody guitar underlining the desperate vocals, “The Question” flourishes in its will-they-won’t-they narrative. The lyrics, which detail a long distance love story centered around NYC, are selective in choosing imagery best associated with the brothers’ experience moving in, ranging from “vampires link up in the corridors” to work that “kinda sucks but it pays a lot.” Unlike past singles, “The Question” then takes it up a notch, at times full of hope, before finding an edge defined by brooding instrumentation. Simply put, the song is a step up for Balu Brigada.
ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
BEST NEW MUSIC
Last year was the biggest yet for the brothers, with an opening slot on the Europe leg of Twenty One Pilots’ Clancy World Tour and the release of “So Cold,” an anthemic track laced with disco and rock that leaves no question why it got so popular so fast. The song was featured on Grimy Goods’ The Best Indie Rock Songs of 2024 and several other playlists and features. And despite their nonsensical name, Balu Brigada continually finds a way to give meaning to their pop-leaning tracks, pushing the mainstream forward in the process.
Words: David Sosa
“The Question” by Balu Brigada is out on streaming services. For more on new music and tickets to their tour, including an LA date at The Echo on Feb. 27, follow them on Instagram and their website.
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
