Mike Bruno - The Sad Sisters (Haute Magie, 2012)

Mike Bruno – The Sad Sisters
Haute Magie 2012

Mike Bruno is a guitarist and vocalist based in Philadelphia. The Sad Sisters was originally released in 2009 on CD and was released on LP earlier this year. “April Showers” incorporates intricately finger picked acoustic guitar melodies with Bruno’s sung lyrics soaking in reverb. There’s a ghostly and kind of haunting sound in his voice and just in the whole vibe as well. “Rites of Spring” is a bit more down tempo, but features a similar singer/songwriter setup. The melodies on the guitar are nicely balanced, having just the right amount of darkness and brightness. “Lovebirds” has a nice lo-fi hiss to the recording, and perhaps just a bit less so on the previous songs. On this song Bruno gets a little more expressive in the vocals, and in general, you can hear a unique kind of spirit in his singing. They certainly sound sad, but also powerful at the same time. “No Knight Errant” is a deep and heavy track, emphasized by breakdowns with added percussion. More back up instrumental work can be found on “Wandering Fool”, featuring gloomy piano chords ringing out nicely among Bruno’s echo-y vocals. In essence, it is quite a consistent and artfully composed album, exhibiting some talented songcraft.

LP for purchase: http://hautemagie.com/relics/003/