Bromsen – Brothers in Mind

Bromsen is a Berlin-based duo composed of two brothers, Richard and Karlo Bromsen. These bros have been performing music together since the mid aughts – like a phoenix, their love for music reignited and rose from the ashes of their previous endeavors. Brothers in Mind is the result of their passions, an impressive, synth-soaked offering that embodies the icy synth pop you’re probably expecting from a couple of German synth enthusiasts. With mechanical arpeggiations, fiery guitar theatrics, and genre-appropriate baritone vocals, Bromsen has conjured the spirit of the 1980s through the lens of 2024-era songwriting. Falling somewhere in place between 80s synth pop (think Men Without Hats or Naked Eyes) and 00s era acts like The Knife or The Faint, there’s plenty to enjoy here… As long as you like synths, that is.
“One By One” is a perfect introduction to Brothers in Mind – a robotic synth flagellates as it crescendos into your eardrums. Immediately, you’re greeted by a wash of synth sounds – saws, squares, sines, pads… Even subtle organ tones stab through your speakers in a maelstrom of electronic energy. While the synth is clearly the star here, you’ll also hear chunky blasts of guitar, a refreshing taste of something organic among all the synthetic sounds that swirl around your ears.
As for album highlights, song two, “Merryman” certainly stands out. It’s a logical predecessor to the mechanical pulse of “One By One,” boasting bubbling arpeggiations, punchy percussion, and one of the catchiest choruses on the album. Another great melody can be found on “Someone,” although the sugary hooks here compete with a blistering, mid-song guitar solo for best feature. There’s also the relatively minor-sounding “Read About It” – with its initial half-time groove, this borderline-ballad is layered thick with buzzy textures. The duo pick it up throughout the song, and this variation in tempo helps to give the song some interesting movement. “Read About It” gets our nod for album favorite, but if you’re looking for sticky hooks (like I often am), we really recommend checking out the aforementioned “Someone” and “Merryman”
As for the rest of the album, at eleven exciting songs, there’s lots to explore here on Brothers in Mind. A few final suggestions include the album’s only collab, “Catch,” a co-written track with fellow German act PIXEL METH. While it certainly fits into the rest of the album, “Catch,” definitely highlights PIXEL METH’s contributions, which offer a different vocal timbre to enjoy and some tasty synth swells that feel ethereal and mysterious. Finally, for the guitar nerds out there, “Always On The Right Side,” “We!,” and album closer “More Time” might wet your whistle – “More Time” in particular experiments with arena rock bombast, a fittingly epic way to send off this promising debut.
Brothers in Mind is out now. Check it out via the convenient Spotify embed below.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Nick Sessanna