Dean Brody Readies Beautiful Freakshow For Release Next Month

Artist: Dean Brody

Album: Beautiful Freakshow
Label: Universal
Release date: Oct. 21, 2016

Multiple-time Canadian Country Music Association Award-winner Dean Brody has announced that he'll be releasing his sixth new record late next month. According to the press release, The new project is a combination of new and old school influences, from modern country to a classic twist with a few guests to help out.  In an interview with Stephen Cooke from Local XPress.com, Brody talked about the new project:

"This new record is kind of a conglomerate of chaos," says Brody with a chuckle. "This is the problem with me, I love writing so much that I'm always trying different things. I don't know if it's a weakness or a strength. There's a reggae song that I wrote called Beautiful Girl  — as you know I love Bob Marley and I love the vibe  — that has a country lyric. I try all these different things, but my lyrics are always country. I try to stick to that, and tell a country story, but I just can't sit still when it comes to sitting down in the studio and going, 'We can use a pump organ? We can used a hammered dulcimer? We can get away with this? Let's try it!' "

The eclecticism is best exemplified by the title track, which features a whistled hook, harmonica, surf guitar and a vocal contribution by Halifax rapper Shevy Price that combines the California desert with Los Angeles night life.

"It's so old school that it's new," enthuses Brody. "It's arguably the most pop song on the record, but the harmonica part is so amazing, it reminds me of a spaghetti western soundtrack. It's out there, but it's not. It reminds me of old westerns and old Hollywood. There's a baritone guitar that comes in on the second verse, and the song is all about people from two different cultures falling in love and crossing that line. It's just like Romeo and Juliet, or an interracial romance that some in society might find offensive, but it could be a beautiful thing."

Other surprises in store on Beautiful Freakshow include a fun cover of the Sam Cooke classic Another Saturday Night, and the wistful ballad Blueberry Sky, that builds to a powerful climax thanks to a guitar solo assist from one of Brody's idols, Vince Gill.

"Vince's guitar part is soooo good!" he gushes. "I followed the patterns as far as my records go, with stuff that's rooted in traditional country as well as stuff that pushes the edges. I love doing both, and with an old world country song with a Vince Gill solo, it just doesn't get any better than that; you can sense the motive and the drive that goes into it. And then Time has a lyric that is reminiscent of a Clint Black kind of song. But then we've got songs like Bush Party and Beautiful Freakshow that are more towards the Sam Hunt end of the country spectrum. That's what I love about our genre, it's the ability to infuse it with so many different instruments and production elements."