Hopeless Romantic Album By Brenden Starr Combines Personal Meaning And A Variety Of Musical Elements

Singer/songwriter Brenden Starr recently released his debut album, Hopeless Romantic, and it’s filled with songs written from the heart about personal experiences.  Brenden’s varying musical styles shine through in this album – a combination of rock, pop, and alternative.  I would call this a very successful first album by this talented young musical artist.

Brenden, who is from Hanover, Pennsylvania – not far from Harrisburg, York, and Baltimore – has been singing most of his life, since he was young.  He’s also been playing drums for nearly 20 years, and can also play keyboards. Brenden has been writing songs for about 15 to 20 years.  He got his start in high school in a band called Restraint. Brenden says that really gave him a lot of insight into the industry and it was the beginning of his lifelong passion for music.

Currently, Brenden does not have an official backing band, but he’s hoping to change that soon. He’ll be holding auditions for drums, bass, and guitar.  For the album, he and Hayden Calhoun of Darkside Audio developed and played all the music together in Hayden’s studio. Brenden writes all the music himself, but he gives Hayden a lot of credit as his “second set of ears” when it comes to making creative decisions while recording and producing.  Brenden says it really is a partnership with him and Hayden.  He shares, “I’m really glad to have had Hayden along for the ride on this project.”

Brenden also writes all of the concepts and scripts for his videos.  He says  it’s important to him to have a hand in creating every piece of art, from start to finish.  Thus, he tries to make sure he spends plenty of time not only on writing and recording his music, but also o the filming and creation of the videos.  The videos for “Gravity” and “Top Of The World” were filmed and edited by directors Eric DiCarlo of Square Up Studios and Robert McCoy.

I found Brenden’s album Hopeless Romantic impressive on several levels.  First, he is a remarkable singer. Secondly, his songs all have a personal meaning which shines through and is relatable to the listener.  Finally, the musical style from song to song is varied and kept me on my toes.  I think fans of many music genres would enjoy listening to this album.

I really enjoyed getting to learn more about Brenden’s musical background as well as his creative process while working on this review.  Brenden calls himself a storyteller and loves sharing, which was very helpful to me.  I want to highlight some of the songs on the album that I really enjoyed.  I shared with Branden my interpretations of the songs, and he was kind enough to give me some more insight into the meaning behind the tracks.

“Top Of The World” is a song about being able to get back up after being knocked down many times.  It’s also about being able to take criticism and push through despite negativity.  Brenden calls it this generation’s “Eye Of The Tiger”.

“Crossroads” is about work ethic. According to Brenden, there was a point a few years ago when he didn’t know where he wanted to go in his musical journey.  He was at a crossroads and needed to make a decision.  He had to take a hard look at himself and what he had to offer as an artist, and push himself to get back in the studio and push through the slump.

“Gravity” is a song with a deep message that will resonate with so many people.  Brenden says he has gone through some things that relate to the theme of the song, and he grew up around domestic violence, so this song really hits on those formative experiences which influenced his childhood.  Brenden states, “It’s about both women and men suffering from these experiences.”

To me, “Tonight” is a song about seeking closure to a romantic relationship that ended with uncertainty. Brenden says I’m pretty spot on with that interpretation.  He expands on it:  “The song touches on bits and pieces of a previous relationship.  I wrote this song four years ago with Cristian Machado, who is the former lead singer of Ill Niño.  We worked on this song together in New York. Christian loved my song “Rooftops” so much that he wanted to record with me, and we ended up writing this together.”

Finally, the song “I Remember”, to me, is a song about broken hearts and missing the person you love who is no longer with you.  Once again Brenden says my interpretation is pretty accurate.  He shares, “Parts of it could  relate to a break-up and parts could relate to the passing of a loved one.  I wrote this back in maybe 2013 on my iPad and actually kind of forgot about it, until I stumbled upon it recently. So one day I brought it to the studio, and I just felt like I really NEEDED to do something with it.”  Hayden and Brenden spent some time working on what they wanted it to sound like, and ultimately Brenden decided it would be best as an emotional ballad.  His inspiration for this song came heavily from Adele as well as “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses.

Brenden Starr has several live performances coming up, including:  a full band performance Saturday, March 25th, at Café 611 in Frederick, MD; an acoustic show Friday, March 31st at The Kennel At West York Inn in York, PA; Saturday, May 6th at Racehorse Tavern in Thomasville, PA; and the Rock On The Hill Festival Saturday, May 13th in Hanover, PA.

Brenden Starr can be found on Facebook amd TikTok.