Backseat Mafia first discovered Gena Rose Bruce way back in 2014 and were impressed then by her songwriting prowess and superb vocals. From the sounds of her new release, ‘The Way You Make Love’, she is just getting better and better. This is a low-fi, scuzzy pop masterpiece that evokes Hope Sandoval’s sensual, evocative vocals mixed with the dirty poolroom fuzz of The Jesus and Mary Chain or The Kills:
Slightly bluesy, slightly swampy: I’m sure Bruce didn’t sound like this four years ago.
In the intervening time, she has added a band and a heck of a lot more musical experience including a gig at Nashville’s Americana Festival. Bruce says “When songwriting I always draw from my own personal experience, with exaggeration of course. ‘The Way You Make Love’ represents a newfound confidence in myself as an artist and as a woman. When I was younger I would have never had the nerve to write a song so forward like ‘The Way You Make Love’.”
This is indeed mature and confident songwriting, but more than that, it is a brilliant song with that certain element of sneering louche rock’n’roll disdain. An incredible and rewarding transition and a tremendous portent for her upcoming album.
You can catch Bruce launching the single next month in Melbourne:
Thursday 12 April
Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Supports: TBC
Tickets on sale 2 March
You can get the single from here or from the usual iTunes/Spotify sources.
