Saint John’s Brent Mason remains in fine form on Fireflies, his eleventh album.
Matt Carter
Brent Mason has a new album out and has once again surrounded himself with an exceptional crew of musicians to make it happen. With Fireflies, Mason has crafted another album that skillfully crosses genre divides to showcase the wide range of influences from which he continues to draw inspiration. Backed by more than a dozen supporting musicians including members of The Hypochondriacs, Penny Blacks, and Jessica Rhaye and the Ramshackle Parade who each contribute their voice (or voices) to the album’s ten songs, Mason’s own voice and his storytelling remain at the forefront of each track, leading his band and his audience through stories of love and life.
Whether he’s singing an acoustic ballad or leading his band through an upbeat rock tune, Mason’s core principles are always on full display: his appreciation for observing life’s simple interactions and his uncanny ability to deliver his songs with a comforting sincerity that seems to somehow position the musician and the listener as equals within a shared experience. He never sounds like he’s singing to us, but instead, like he’s singing for us. His words are easily relatable and down to earth in subject and circumstance.
Fireflies is a collection of moods – one moment exciting and upbeat and the next, serene and contemplative – and flows seamlessly without ever losing its own unique sense of identity and purpose; the type of everywhere-at-once existence that can only come from years spent honing one’s craft and carefully choosing the right voices to bring it to life. Bravo Mr. Mason.
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