Coming from western North Carolina, Brother released their second album All Things Considered in 2026, with a musically youthful sound and reminiscent hue. With a soulful belief in musical unity, the band’s name was chosen to carry that bond. And this album perfectly unified each track perfectly through the dreamy, romantic, playful and cynical stages of adolescence to adult life.
Posted on their official Instagram page, Brother’s new album was inspired from popular indie-rock bands: Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Collective Soul, Oasis, The Struts, and Dirty Honey. A legendary roster of UK and US indie-rock and pop bands renowned for their legacy in the indie-scene. Brother’s 11-track sequence is like drifting into a dream or memory we want to return to for just a day. It begins with “Intro,” a brief instrumental piece that led into the first vocal track. It’s distant, almost distorted with reverb, and humming paired with an anthem-like beat. It cuts abruptly, leaning into the second track “Make It Right (Get It),” a clean, musically pleasant transition. The unique musical direction was a clever way to ease into the band’s creativity, sticking to the simplicity of lo-fi and dream pop.
“Arms Around Me” is beautifully composed with orchestra-rock, emitting bitter-sweet feelings. The highlight of this piece was the harmonic orchestra paired with young love lyrics that gave it a very youthful feel. This track feels close to Arctic Monkeys’ 2018 era and their orchestral rock from The Car. The song jumps during the interlude where violins duet with a bouncy bass while the rest of the band is on hold until reaching the bridge, and the soft vocals return. The tight violin add an extra layer of rawness, like confessing to a first love.
“Stepping Stone” presents an irresistible charm. From the catchy garage beat and indie pop, this track continues the amateur romance: “Cause I’m a stepping stone, just a pennied boy/ she can use, as a toy / stepping stone, yeah she’s in my head/ said goodbye as she’s in my bed.” There’s a playfulness in the piece from the storytelling and “tinged with an Americana essence,” as written by Matt Jensen. Much like all the tracks in this album, romance is crafted through a vivid longing. “Someone, Somewhere” changes course into a slower, sentimental country blues, adding a touch of softness to a depicted romantic ending. A sound that bounces off of Kings of Leon. The song perfectly encapsulates the image of longing, loneliness, and an ache for the love of someone’s soul: “I don’t need your body/ don’t need just your body/ and not just anybody/ there’s no point in being alone”. The slower beat and orchestra melody allow for a moment to ponder and ruminate about being “lost in the morning rain”.
The heart of the album is nestled in “Renaissance Queen”. It is a captivating, dark romance that stands out against the other tracks in this album, a mature contrast to the adolescent romance. It pulsates with a 90s grunge, sultry and alternative. Brother incorporates another interesting style to their medley of musical styles, introducing baroque pop to this mesmerizing piece. “Eyes that shine like emerald green/ prettiest girl that I’ve ever seen” leads into a specific chilling line “find the one who can bury me”, an enticing yet morbid image. From the heavy bassline and high guitar riffs amongst the blasting sound of the drums, a melancholic entrance at the image of this hauntingly beautiful queen. Chandler’s low and urgent vocals stresses in fear and desperation to appease his Queen, the urging “come on/ come on/ that revolution is dead/ to what’s in my head/ find me the one who can bury me/ renaissance.” The interlude breaks into a dizzied, distorted riff, before a final loud screech.
“Boyish” is a mixture of garage and glam rock, re-entering the upbeat phase of young love. This track is an energizing song to play along or dance to. Echoing off of “Someone, Somewhere”, the lines “I’m tired of/ all this rain/ you said that you, you feel the same/ but what a shame/ it never know, meant a thing” fulfills teenage angst and rashness after failed romance attempts, choosing to get “real high/ most of the time/ on everyone’s alibis”. The song feels like a rebellion— a fun, whimsical, crazy rebellion. The musical break enters a quicker tempo change into a glam rock essence, very reminiscent of The Struts, with the flamboyant guitar being the highlight, before the song shifts back into a tender slow acoustic at the bridge, and the boy’s buried feelings are revealed. The loud swagger was a decoy to conceal what was underneath the angst and cool facade, there is a tender boy with complex feelings he is still learning to navigate. “He’s too proud to tell you how/ he still dreams in lilac/ almost every/ every night.” A sweet ending to a fun song.
Brother slows things down with “The Willow”, to allow sad pondering. This bluegrass piece seems to pay homage to a popular folk classic “Bury me Beneath the Willow” with the band’s unique spin on the themes of heartbreak and betrayal. Chandler alters the high vocals found in bluegrass with his lower tone, depicting a story of a young man waiting under a willow tree for his lover’s return. The chorus suggests they have reached a plateau in their relationship: “well I’m so tired of/ Running away/ I’m so tired of/ The same.” The monotony clashes with the lover’s resistance to change is what inevitably broke them apart, the final solemn lines of the song being “And I will wait in the dark.” The romance builds off each track and much like the true feelings of the teenager in “Stepping Stone”, the young man in “The Willow” is left waiting, hoping, but we know the lover won’t return.
The final track returns to the soft, tender, reminiscent acoustic, and a farewell with “All Things Considered.” Now the band channels their romance towards their fans, a message of gratitude and reassurance on their behalf. The beginning verse depicts this gratitude love through Chandler’s perspective. His conflict with not wanting to “fall in love/ with girls who come to all my[his] shows,” is a resistance to leaving each performance due to attachment towards every audience. The beautiful blend of post-grunge and rockabilly reflects influence from Collective Soul. It’s a sentimental piece; preferably one you would listen to on an open porch with a drink after a long day in the summer breeze. The lines “And don’t wait by the phone/ put a candle in the window/ until I’m home” is Chandler letting fans know not to miss them too much because they will return. The motif “I’m doing fine” mirrors the romantic protagonist throughout the album and the actual band doing fine as they continue their musical journey forward. The album creates a full circle moment with the distorted instrumental in the interlude paralleling the one in intro, probing us to replay it over again.
Enjoyers of 90s rock, country rock, and alt rock, will find Brother’s admiration for melding influences into a beautiful new sound unique is a worthwhile exploration of where they’re headed next. All Things Considered perfectly embodies each band Brother listed on their Instagram and managed to evolve it to their own fresh sound that is both familiar and new.
Written by Amelia Suon
