BRANDON STANSELL FOUND HIMSELF WHEN HE STOPPED LOOKING AND DECIDED TO SIMPLY LIVE IN THE MOMENT
“When I took a breath and stood still, it all began to make sense,” he says. “I had been trying to be enough of this or enough of that for the world. It was exhausting, and it actually took me further away from who I truly am. Feeling the confidence to stop trying please everyone but myself changed everything. I found clarity.”
In that moment of standing still, Stansell discovered the gradient shades of joy and challenges of his life that resulted in his most appealing recording to date, “This Must Be the Place.” It’s an amalgam of the tear-inducing country music of his previous efforts and a compelling pop vibrancy of hope. It’s a shift that matches the guy Brandon is in casual conversation.
“For me, songwriting is sometimes an exploration of what you don’t always talk about,” he says. “It’s an expression of feelings and experiences that can feel really difficult to just blurt out when you’re talking with someone. Art allows you to go where you usually might not. And it allows you the time and space to hone and shape the way you say how you feel. It allows you to document moments in a really beautiful way.”
Stansell has effectively crafted his life story in a series of compelling songs and visuals that trace his tumultuous coming out as gay in a strictly religious and conservative family in North Carolina. His 2017 debut “Slow Down” and its 2020 follow up “Hurt People” were bold expressions of the pain and conflict of living his life in truth. Particularly potent was his decision to wrap his stories in purity of country music, which has yet to fully embrace queer artists. It also proudly and defiantly owns a part of an entrenched American cultural expression that has previously been viewed as off-limits to LGBTQ people.
“It was, and still is, a genre that I feel a strong attraction and affinity for,” he says. “It has always been an enormous part of my musical life. I knew in my heart that I wasn’t the only gay kid who felt that way. I wrote those songs as much for them as I did them for myself. We deserve a place at any table we choose.”
He went even further. A decade after being ostracized for coming out to his Southern Baptist family, Stansell went home to face his family and play a show. He also allowed film maker Trent Atkinson to capture the entire experience for the 2020 documentary called “Three Chords and a Lie.” The result is an unflinching look at the philosophical divide of Americans on the issue of sexuality and faith, even during these allegedly more enlightened times. It’s an occasional tough film to watch, as you see that there are some things that will never change. The alternating moments of reconciliation and resignation are deeply emotional – and occasionally devastating.
“There were many times during that week when I wanted to bolt,” Stansell says. “It was hard. Really hard. But it had to happen. And I’m glad that it did. It created a line that marked the passage of one life chapter into the next.”
As strong as they stand on their own merits, the songs of “This Must Be the Place” are best consumed after having experienced the documentary. It allows the optimism of the title track feel like a victory, while the “is-this-really-where-I-am?” introspection of “33” feels more empowering, not despairing. The EP depicts that artist as a person walking an unusual rode; one that he didn’t anticipate, but relishes. That is perhaps most evident on the single “Did You Settle Down Too Soon,” which feels very much like a post-mortem to “Three Chords and a Lie.” In it, Stansell ponders the lost adventures of following the expected path of life’s proverbial white-picket fence and traditional family. The ultimate answer of the song is simple, as Stansell intones “I haven’t, but I’m happy.”
“One of the great unexpected things that I've gotten to enjoy after coming out was feeling the doors swing wide open,” he says. “All expectations were gone. I got to pick and choose what I wanted in my life. It went from being this thing that was pretty tough to becoming quite liberating.”
That started with a big move to Los Angeles. “When I moved to Los Angeles, I fell into a great new community of people. I took good care of myself for the first time. I was writing music for the first time in my life. I was doing all of these things and really learning what it felt like to be a happy person.”
As he glides through this new era, Brandon Stansell relishes one thing that was missing from his creative life: Laughter.
“People who know me, know that I’m a pretty light person who loves to laugh,” he says. “Now my set will include a wider range of songs and moods that will allow more of ME to show through. There are many more sad songs to write, of course. But this is a really good place to be right now.”
SWINGING SINGLES: One of the more promising young artists to rise from the UK club scene is an unassuming fella named Dan Aura. He is 100% independent, and yet his recordings sound like they have been bankrolled by a major label. His debut EP is due later this month, and it is previewed by the pounding electro-pop bop “Feel It,” which is ripe for international pop radio airwaves.
RuPaul is taking no prisoners on her forthcoming new album “Mama Ru.” Teamed with writer/producer Fredrick Manano, the drag legend takes lyrical aim on critics of her super-successful RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. The lead single, “Blame it On the Edit,” eschews the “everybody say love” messaging that typically etches her songs in favor of barbs like “Ain't studying you, man. I got my own business. Who got the time for these disgruntled chickens.” The track comes with a brilliant video that combines current Ru with footage from her early days as a rough-hewn, but wildly influential figure on the New York club scene. Talk about showing the kids how it is (and was) done.
Grace Davies came into prominence as the runner up on the UK television show the X Factor in 2017. Since then, she has been releasing solid singles that have failed to pay up on the commercial promise she revealed on that show... until now. “Roots” is actually a song she sang on the show, and this newly recorded version is nothing short of spectacular. It has youth-appeal via its sensitive, confessional lyrics, while Grace's vocals have a mature, Adele-like quality. This is the one. Bet on it.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Larry Flick is a 35-plus year veteran of music and media. He first made his mark at Billboard magazine as a senior editor for 14 years. He then took to the airwaves of SiriusXM as a host and producer for 18 years. Along the way, he has also written for magazines that like Vibe and the Advocate, as well as consulting for artists that include Prince and KISS.