Findlay Brown


The Yorkshire born singer-songwriter, Findlay Brown, is steadily gaining a devoted fan base. This itself is unsurprising since the release of his debut album, Separated by the Sea, has heralded a renewed appreciation for the traditional craft of song writing.

The delicate intimacy of Brown’s music reflects the inspiration of it’s composition as the album was written as an extended love letter to his then estranged Danish girlfriend. Despite their tempestuous relationship, he cites her as the inspiration for the romantic ballads, reflecting that she has “influenced everything like a muse.”

The soft acoustic melodies blend with earnest lyrics to create “not contrived, but genuine expression.” However, despite the obvious success of this album, Brown stresses that it is not definitive of his musical style. He further admits that due to the specialist nature of his debut, it almost verges on a concept and although he admits that some people may currently consider his music niche, he is not pretentious in his musical aspirations. Brown’s diverse ambitions are mirrored in his desire to play to “as new and diverse an audience as possible.” His musical influences are focused on psychedelic electronica such as Kraftwerk and Faust, which is a vast departure from his current album, which can be likened more to the mellow sounds of Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon.

Separated by the Sea’s melodic force is comfortably supported by heartfelt lyrics yet it is the quality of Brown’s music that drives the album. Brown concurs that the emphasis of the construct of his songs is melody based and later the “lyrics come almost subconsciously.”

Brown’s musical dexterity will be showcased on his next album as intends to cover a vast range of his musical influences, encompassing a modern twist of country music with an indie flavour of early Elvis and Roy Orbison. Many labels have been deployed to describe Findlay Brown, most frequently “alternative folk”, yet by appreciating the melodic and lyrical subtleties of his songs it is the former of these words that would encompass his music and outlook most solidly.

Alice Roberts