For singer/songwriter Bronwynne Brent’s third album, Undercover, the Greenville, Mississippi native traveled to Brooklyn’s renowned Daptone Studios along with collaborator, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Johnny Sangster (Maggie Bjorklund, Mudhoney). Undercover features Brent’s rich sultry vocals alongside the core band members Sangster on guitar, Mikey Post (Dolly Parton, Kenny Rodgers) on drums, and Ben Trokan (Robbers on Hight Street, Spoon) on bass. While 2014’s Stardust was primarily an acoustic folk-based release, Undercover is a soulful mix of bluesy folk and jazz. According to Brent, Undercover is a story of love and loss told throughout the album’s 13 soulful tracks; the protagonist “meets a man, but it’s more about a feeling and loving in the moment” and is “falling for him but doesn’t want to admit it.” Notable tracks include: a heartbreaking cover of Belgian crooner Jacques Brel’s “If You Go Away”; a soulful rendition of the Chuck Willis song “Whatcha Gonna Do When Your Baby Leaves You”; the gentle folk song “Raincoat”; the shuffling folk-tinged title-track; the melancholy jazz-inspired “River Lullaby”; the country-style “Big Talker’: the mournful heartbreaker “Love Without Romance”; the soulful brooding folk song “Walking Relapse”; and the smoky torch ballad closer “I Walked Away.” Bronwynne Brent’s Undercover is a polished, slow-burning set of bluesy folk, torch songs, and jazz songs infused with the spirit of the Mississippi Delta at the core. – Written by JFelton
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