A One Listen Song Review

It’s been seven years since we last heard a solo album from Braille. The last solo song he released was “Changed Hearts,” and even that was released five years ago. It’s not like he hasn’t been putting in work, with Beautiful Eulogy being his main artistic focus, but it’s great to learn of Braille dropping new solo stuff soon. This morning he released a new single, “Push It Down,” and I thought it’d be great to put it through a bar exam.

I press play and static pushes us into a spooky synth line, and a morphed voice saying “push it down.” Once the beat drops the textures continue to change throughout the song. The musical decisions made in this tune enhance the listening experience and bring out the best of the performance from Braille. The beat has a lot of trap elements to it, while also still showing influences of that experimental boom bap style you’re used to from Braille. This performance is terrific, you can hear his heart in his voice. The writing is rich and deep. We experience Braille battling within himself as he deals with comparison, humility, and pride among other things. While we’re used to hearing transparent music from him, I’m not sure it’s been paired with such an emotive instrumental. The minor progressions of the keys, the haunting piano licks, and the angst in the rhymes took me to a place I’d never been with Braille before. The result is an introspective journey causing me to deal with the things I “push down,” sweep under the rug, and try to ignore in my relationships with others and with God.

“I don’t do this for myself but for victims of myself/I’m my own worst critic/I’m a victim of myself/it knocks me off balance fighting imaginary battles/my friends are talented should I hide in their shadows?/It sounds deep but only reveals that I’m shallow/I’m from the broad road but I belong to the narrow/and I confess that I struggle to confess/ but that confession will release the suppression of my regrets…”

Pushing down all of these thoughts and never knowing who to trust becomes a battle of the mind. It can leave us feeling numb and not wanting to ever deal with these insecurities. This song is heavy but it’s beautiful and a tremendous break in the silence for Braille.