Singles Spotlight:
Brooke Annibale – “Make You Mine”

Hello reader,

How are you today? I hope you’ve been enjoying all of the SWT content that you’ve come across lately.

I’m stoked to discuss another indie singer-songwriter making great music: Brooke Annibale. The Rhode Island-based, Pittsburgh-native has garnered fans and praise for both her songwriting and lyricism on previous albums: Silence Worth Breaking (2011), The Simple Fear (2015), Hold to the Light (2018), and Better By Now (2022). According to a press release for the latest single we’ll get into soon enough, “Make You Mine”, Brooke Annibale has over 50 million streams, and “Annibale is known for her signature songwriting craft that resists easy categorization. Her music drifts somewhere between dreamy and dark — lush, genre-defying soundscapes built on expressive melodies and lyrics that linger long after the song ends.” I’m sold already, ready to listen to more. How about you?

Looking into her new album, Bolder Font, which will be released September 17th, “Following the release of 2022’s Better By Now, she faced a series of dispiriting setbacks that sent her back to square one. She started to convince herself that maybe her dreams were just too bold to actually achieve. She considered walking away from music altogether, but every time she tried, she felt herself drawn back, searching for a way to feel connected to it all again. In that moment, Brooke chose curiosity over collapse and did something quietly radical: she slowed down. In a world that tells you to push through and move fast, she took her time, shifted her perspective, and built something new from the ground up. She found that connection through taking a deeper dive into the creative process more than ever before by learning how to produce and mix her own music.”

Annibale continues, “Instead of totally falling apart, I got curious about what could reignite my love for making music. I have always loved being in the studio; it was like magic to me to hear my songs come to life in that way. I had dabbled in producing my music before, but never for a full-length record. I wondered what would happen if I tried. This record has more of me in it than any other record because there is not a single sound that I didn’t have my hands on in some way.”

The press release shared the talent Annibale assembled, “She enlisted the help of a mentor, Christian (Leggy) Langdon, who produced Better By Now, and that mentorship encouraged her to grow beyond what she ever imagined. She studied with Langdon on and off for nearly 2 years. “Working with Leggy on my last record was such an easy and uncomplicated process where I felt I could fully trust him. Having him as a mentor on this project was a smooth transition, because that trust was already established.” Annibale hand-picked every musician on Bolder Font, from long-time collaborators like violinist Eleonore Denig (a collegemate in Nashville), pianist Mark Ramsey (her longtime accompanist), bassist Tommy Ng (whom she met opening for Chadwick Stokes in 2018), and cellist Cara Fox (a returning presence from previous releases) — to new energy from drummers Florian Gouëllo and Dan Burns. Bolder Font also marks the first time she dove into full creative control of an entire album, including writing, recording, producing, editing, and mixing entirely on her own.”

Recently, I got to listen to “Make You Mine,” and I immediately loved the song.  And knew I had to shed some light on Annibale with you as part of our Singles Spotlight series. From the press release for the song, Annibale said, “I wrote this song after writing a few quite lyrically heavy ones, feeling like I just wanted to write something fun. I pulled up a drum loop, set up my mic, and just started playing to see what would come out. The writing of ‘Make You Mine’ fell out in about a day. I love those kinds of songs, because they just feel natural, unforced. Tommy Ng, who played bass on this, really created this danceable element with the driving bass line in the choruses. I hear it in my head even when I’m playing it solo. Sure this could be taken as a simple love song, and it has some of that inspiration in there. But it also is about the pursuit of dreams, and chasing something more.” Sign me up for that listening experience. Are you on board with us?

This song will hook the interest of many from the moment of its opening instrumentation, comprised of organwork, guitar, synth, and Annibale’s direct tone within her powerful vocals. And hook the rest as the song evolves melodically and as its earnest and at times earworm-worthy lyrics and harmonies are laid out. It’s a great look into the work of Brooke Annibale and serves well as an introduction to her talent. We’re looking forward to more this year and the entire album in September. But don’t take my word for it, take a listen for yourself from Brooke Annibale’s YouTube channel:

(All credits and rights to the Brooke Annibale)

The cover art for Bolder Font:

The track list for Bolder Font:

1. My Favorite Part
2. Bolder Font
3. Daily Dose
4. Make You Mine
5. Try Again
6. Birthday
7. Now It’s Over
8. Lose My Number
9. Heaviness
10. Proof

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com