A self-initiated confessional, bringing radical honesty together with teardrop strains of piano, Manchester’s Brain Leak drop their latest single, “Moon Eyes.” Gamely teasing out glassy melodies and emotional truths that evoke a distinct melancholic tenderness, replete with bittersweet, tentative longing, singer-songwriter, Tara Gabriella Engelhardt opens her own Pandora’s Box of reflection, realization and growth with the help of bandmates drawn from Peaness, Orielles, Working Men’s Club and Blanketman.
Pupating from Mazzy Star-alike nu-riot grrrl distorted strums and drums and fading out Brain Leak’s thrilling, full-band sonics, “Moon Eyes” allow Gabriella Engelhardt her ‘Lana moment’, spotlighted amidst the song’s cavernous, yet skin-touchingly intimate space. What lies within is a record of hopeless admiration, romantic doubt and the sense of release as truth finally steps in to obstruct confusion.
Gabriella Engelhardt reflects on the single: “’Moon Eyes’ is the acknowledgment of how people, relationships and dynamics evolve and, with some time, the acceptance of those developments. Sometimes relationships evolve in completely unforeseen ways, leaving you in unfamiliar territory, which is scary if you’re a sensitive person like I am who struggles with change. This song is me coming to terms with that change.”
An extended reach into matters of the mind and heart, clocking in at over four minutes, with unhurried sense of urgent expression, backed minimally by strains of guitar and an ethereal, warped wash of strings, “Moon Eyes” is a ‘reply’ to a song originally performed by Gabriella Engelhardt’s other, hotly-tipped band, Adjustments. An opening half of documentarian, fly-on-the-wall reflection on real encounters with forlorn love gives way to a second half of almost too brutal truths as the songwriter was forced to reckon with herself, her weaknesses and her enduring, resultant strengths.
