Piano-led ambiance and rising anticipation that’s euphoric at its peak – Rise Phoenix is a boldly impassioned modern pop, rock and dance project, loaded with poetry and soulful melodies, and it’s a pleasure to let fill the space at volume.
Composed by Bryan Braning, EnlightMusic follows evocative and deeply personal yet relatable stories that openly reflect upon the highs and lows of the human experience. As an introduction to that format, Falling Upwards is quite stunning, a ballad to synth-soaked explosion of energy, with powerful imagery throughout a series of lyrics that feel profound and deeply moving. This opening song alone is enough to captivate, and likely get you replaying the track before you move on to the rest of the album.
Featuring twelve originals in full, this sense of something epic and otherworldly consistently holds close to the emotions and poetic reflections of a singer-songwriter. The titles of the songs and the artwork, the emotions and presence of each track, all rings loud in favour of this intriguing concept of Rise Phoenix.
“Gravity’s a teacher, not a cage I’m living in.” “The mountains may surround me, but the sky still meets my eyes, a thousand heavy questions are the ones that make me rise.” – Gravity’s Whisper.
Bryan Braning was inspired by his wife and daughters to write the songs of Rise Phoenix. The tracks read like poems in many ways, often abstract and provocative, rather than literal and detailed or following specific scenes. There’s a depth to the wonder of each song, and the music backs that up well.
A twist of modern AI potentially plays a role, along with sheer eclecticism from one song to the next – the piano-led intimacy of Gravity’s Whisper, the ferocity and hard-rock alternative energy of Ashes in My Wake. It’s a colourful, unpredictable but hopeful and well-grounded collection. Sometimes the ideas feel intensely out-there, not intimate and accessible but vague and vast. However, given the cinematic and immense feel of the production, this seems perfectly fitting.
Iron In My Veins shifts gears again, a tribal drumline and fragments of additional voice reinforcing these reflections on personal strength and drive. Then we get the nearly whispered softness of Lanterns in the Dark, a beautifully impactful and memorable track, which perhaps resides with Falling Upwards as an evocative and immersive highlight.
Edge of The Horizon offers a hint of something pop-punk-like melodically and in the looping riff, before Wildfires Within explodes into life with that hard-rock energy, distortion and pace once again – making sure to fall away for a more contemplative verse; the result of which allows for a mighty contrast and impact as the hook drops back in. Another defiant highlight.
Mellow reflection is essential for contrast, and Echoes of The Storm brings things back down to Earth, before the clear optimism and inspiring positivity of Breathe Again lifts the mood quite divinely. Then the power-chords and stop-start weight of Scars Like Stars captures attention for the intricate detail and the sheer juxtaposition of from one moment to the next.
The title-track Rise Phoenix delivers an anthemic dose of awakening motivation at the penultimate moment – the perfect kind of track to crank up the volume for and ignite a sense of possibility and determination. This is followed beautifully by the breathy intimacy and overcoming of Path Of Light.
In reality, the Rise Phoenix album in full is perfectly well-crafted to inspire and uplift, to celebrate life and to remind listeners that struggle and turmoil are a huge part of living; that there is always something worthwhile to fight for on the other side. The music is contemporary but also rather timeless in its pop sentiments, and the poetic depths are quite refreshing; given the more literal and often surface level nature of much of the modern scene. An easy pleasure to escape into this season.
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