We Speak Music
Brunette Champion Shares New Single “Essex Street”
There’s a particular kind of song that doesn’t so much arrive as it drifts in, like a memory you didn’t realise you were still carrying. Brunette Champion’s “Essex Street” belongs firmly in that category, unfolding with a quiet gravity that feels both intimate and slightly unsteady, as though it’s being remembered in real time.
Bianca Ocampo builds the track around a sense of emotional suspension. Nothing is rushed; everything lingers just long enough to ache. Strings swell like half-formed thoughts, brushing against a twee-tinged indie sensibility that recalls the soft-focus edges of 2010s bedroom pop without ever collapsing into pastiche.
What’s most striking is the way the track treats nostalgia not as comfort, but as friction. Memory here is unstable terrain—something you can walk through but never fully stand on. The song keeps circling the question of identity, letting it dissolve and reassemble in small, deliberate fragments.
There’s a cinematic pull to the arrangement, evoking the sensation of a coming-of-age montage where the world feels briefly coordinated with your internal state. It’s not imitation so much as invocation—like watching your own life from a slightly displaced angle, somewhere between clarity and haze.
By its close, “Essex Street” doesn’t resolve so much as settle. It leaves behind a residue of feeling rather than a conclusion, which feels entirely intentional. Brunette Champion isn’t offering answers here—only the sound of someone learning how to live inside the questions.
Swiss artist Fanny Alexandra returns with “Black Pearl Summer”, a new single that finds her exploring a more open side of her alternative sound. Released via Now Listen, the track combines coastal imagery with a story about growing through grief, pressure and the experiences that can shape a person over time.
Alexandra notes that the song is relatively summery by her own standards. She has said that her music is usually darker and that she has never been particularly drawn to the typical idea of summer, preferring cold air, jackets and rugged coastlines. That gives the release a clear sense of personality from the outset.
The song centres on Alexandra’s reflections on being 19 and spending years focused on survival rather than fully living. Those experiences are presented through the image of a black pearl, which becomes a way of considering how something worthwhile can emerge from a challenging period.
What makes the track particularly effective is the balance between its subject matter and its musical approach. The production gives the song room to breathe, while Alexandra keeps the focus firmly on the story she is telling. It means the track can be enjoyed as a seasonal release while still offering more to discover in the lyrics.
There is also a clear sense of change in the way Alexandra approaches her younger self. The song is not about returning to that period or trying to erase it. Instead, it considers what can be learned from experiences that once felt overwhelming.
“Black Pearl Summer” therefore offers newcomers a useful introduction to Alexandra’s work. It shows an artist comfortable writing about serious subjects, while also demonstrating a lighter musical side that may not be as familiar to listeners who know her darker material.
It is an interesting glimpse of what Alexandra can do when she lets a little more light into the picture.
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