One of the most prolific singer-songwriters around today is Brian Lambert, a thoughtful, engaging and funny guy based in Denton, Texas. He’s been writing and recording music for many years, and says he’s “reinvented himself more times than he can count.” He even tried his hand at country music for a while, but came to the realization that it just wasn’t for him. When Covid put a halt to playing gigs, Brian switched gears and began writing indie rock songs inspired by some of his favorite acts like Spoon, Gang of Youths, Soul Asylum and the Replacements.

In early 2021, he challenged himself to writing, recording and producing a new song every week for a year, an ambitious feat he went on to accomplish! Since then, he’s continued his prodigious output, writing and recording songs both as a solo artist and in collaboration with a host of other musicians he’s met on Twitter, including Marc Schuster, a singer-songwriter, musician and all-around renaissance man from the Philadelphia area, with whom he teamed up with to create a separate music act The Star Crumbles, who released a fantastic debut album The Ghost of Dancing Slow last September. (I previously reviewed that album, as well as two of Brian’s singles, “Kids” and “It’s Good”.)

Another pair of artists he’s worked with are Jr Moz Collective, the music project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mike Mosley, and Paul Prater, another renaissance man who, in addition to being a musician, is also a magician, entertainer, mind reader, attorney and author. Earlier this year, Jr Moz Collective, Paul Prater and Brian collaborated on a song “I Don’t Believe In You“, which was released in April. Mike Mosley wrote the music and lyrics, played guitar, bass and synths and sang lead vocals, Paul played drums, and Brian played lead synths and sang backing vocals.

Brian loved the song so much – which he says brought him to tears – he decided to re-record it with him singing lead vocals, also re-dubbing his lead synth part. The result is a more impactful and dramatic track, in large part due to Brian’s emphatic vocals filled with unbridled passion. He calls it a “fiery garage rock anthem that pairs well with the heat of summer and discontent, perfectly capturing the dissatisfaction with the status quo. Earnest like Isbell, dirty guitars of QOTSA, quirkiness of Beck and swagger of Bowie.” After hearing the song, I have to concede that’s a pretty accurate description!

Opening with a strong thumping drumbeat, the song is soon joined by a gnarly guitar riff, deep bass groove and retro 80s-sounding synths as Brian begins to sing the biting lyrics. The edgy and colorful instrumentals create a powerful, almost cinematic backdrop for his raw, emotionally-charged vocals delivered with a forceful passion that leave me covered in goosebumps. It’s possibly Brian’s most dramatic single yet.

The lyrics call out those who spout religious dogma, lies and hate, urging us to question what we hear or read, and fight back against those wanting to poison and divide us: “Do you believe anything you hear if it comes from the mouth of hate? Do you believe anything they say if it allows you to feel that way? / And I don’t believe in you, you ought to know that I never did / And I’m not gonna sit back and keep my thoughts to my self/ There’s nothing stopping me from stopping you.”

The beautiful lyric video was made with AI-created images, generated from the original watercolor painting by Brian’s father William Edward Lambert that was used for the single cover art.

Those purchasing the track on Bandcamp get a bonus song “Follow Me In”, which was written by fellow musician David Ray Thomas.

https://youtu.be/YHNzVxGy0s0

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Find his music on Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Music / YouTube