Matt Swayne; vocals, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars, banjo, harmonica.
Elizabeth Reid; vocals, viola, piano accordion, autoharp, ukulele.
Denni Meredith; bass guitar.
Influences
Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks, Soursob Bob, John Baker Duo, Joan Baez, Smoke, The Audreys, Antony & The Johnsons, The Pogues, Ataraxia, The Deadfly Ensemble, Johnny Cash, Baterz, Edgar Allan Poe, Cinema Strange, Paul Williams, The Dresden Dolls, CW Stoneking, The Decemberists, The Yearlings, Paul Kelly, The Dirty Three, David Bowie, REM, Lewis Carroll, Absinthe...
"Curiously dark in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, both lyrically and in mannerism, Brillig possess an odd quality that imbues adept story-telling with days-gone-by poetic flair."
- Steve Jones, dB magazine 27 June 2007
from review of The Audreys at The Gov, with brillig as support.
With a deliciously dark look & captivating stage presence, Brillig draws its audience in with songs that are quite often tragedy & more often than not melancholic. Strangely, they are also beautiful & uplifting.
Driven by the vocal harmony & interplay between lead singers Matt Swayne & Elizabeth Reid, Brillig's music features 12-string acoustic guitar, viola, harmonica, banjo, bass, piano accordion, ukulele & autoharp. Think Nick Cave meets Johnny Cash - we're talking Gothic Folk.
Performing across Australia (sorry NT & WA) Brillig have played with such acclaimed acts as The Handsome Family (USA), The Audreys, CW Stoneking, Jason Webley (USA), Ned Collette (VIC), Andrew Morris (QLD), Sime Nugent (VIC), The Yearlings, John Baker Duo, Huckleberry Swedes, Soursob Bob & more.
Brillig recently signed to Germany's Black Rain label (European & North American territories), which released a single in March 2007 featuring acoustic track "The Plagiarist" followed by the album "Mirror On The Wall" both receiving great reviews in many high profile magazines & websites, and currently gaining airplay in the UK, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium & Russia.
Meanwhile in Australia, the current studio album ("Mirror on the Wall"), which contains both acoustic & electric tracks, has been receiving airplay across the country. The LP was launched during Brillig's latest National Tour, including shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Ballarat & Adelaide (as part of the Fringe Festival and FUSE Festival). 2007 also brought a series of mini-tours to the Victorian Goldfields, Tasmania and ACT.
2008 sees Brillig creating a new series of songs and spending time in pre-production for a new studio recording, with live performances scheduled for late August.
JOIN THE MAILING LIST: brillig@brillig.com.au
www.brillig.com.au
PO Box 396, Rundle Mall, South Australia, Australia 5000
brillig electric (archives): www.myspace.com/brilligthelookingglass
NEXT SHOW: (25 JULY @ Wheatsheaf, supporting Martin Martini)
*
REVIEWS FROM EUROPE & BEYOND*
Thanks
to Germany's Black Rain label, brillig's preview single "The Plagiarist"
has hit the streets in Europe & North America. Released in March 2007, "The
Plagiarist" single has been getting an average of 7.5 out of 10 in its
reviews, along with some high praise from countries far and wide, including
Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Belgium and the USA.
HIGHLIGHT
QUOTES - THE PLAGIARIST REVIEWS
"...an admirable synthesis of class and cleverness" - Versacrum
(Italy)
"it
possesses the simultaneously a very airy, graceful, sensual and saturated contemporary
sound....In my view, the pale & slender Australian romantics... presented
to decadent public one of the best symbioses within the framework of Gothic
genre" - Machinist
(Russia)
"we
have an important band here, that now will have fans not only in the Outback
but also in Europe. Art-full music." - elektrauma
(Germany)
"Result:
Very successful appetizer on a hopefully similarly exciting CD." -
The
Pit (Germany)
"A
release that shines like a diamond in the constantly self-copying music scene."
- Ground
Under Productions (Australia)
"I
hope that Brillig, from now on, becomes important in this scene, not only at
level of its native Australia but at the level of the entire world."
- Resenas
(Spain)
VIDEO CLIP:
'Followed' (Acoustic)
Come away to the
carnival, where hypnotic clowns, mouths agape & silent, watch an ageless
menagerie aboard merry-go-rounds. Neon spins, rises, pulse - menacing by day,
frantic by night. Fall forward into the light, and always, always follow the
white rabbit.
(For brillig's 2nd clip, years of Super 8 footage from the Royal Show were lovingly compiled for acoustic track 'Followed'('04). But who could predict a carousel White Rabbit would feature so prominently...)
..>
brillig's 2007 LP Mirror on the Wall sold out in stores - small supply left available direct from the band
The
12 track LP features both electro-pop & acoustic songs.
Thank you Brillig.We had a great night opening for King Curly at the Vanguard last weekend.What a band!..what strange and beautiful songs!..hope your creating is going great guns,.love johnny
