Brett Gleason

From Brooklyn by way of Long Island, singer/songwriter Brett Gleason is a solo artist who combines the dark electronic presence of Trent Reznor with the earnest, piano-based pop of Ben Folds. Adding to the moody tunefulness of Gleason's music are his lyrics, bold and deeply personal meditations on the challenges presented by the world around him, which complement the dynamics of his arrangements. Gleason made his debut with 2009's The Dissonance, introduced a more mature and accomplished sound on 2014's Brett Gleason, and added a greater degree of introspective insight on 2023's Prophecy. Brett Gleason grew up in Huntington, New York, and as a toddler he had an accident that damaged his mouth palate. As a result, he developed a severe speech impediment, and for several years only his mother and sister could understand him when he spoke. Feeling isolated, young Gleason turned to music, both as a way of communicating his thoughts and as something he could do by himself if need be. He learned to play a variety of musical instruments, and classical piano studies and competitive gymnastics took up much of his time as a teenager. He started writing songs when he was 13 and would soon be diagnosed with a bipolar disorder; he also discovered he was gay, and an early romance with a young man who was HIV+ would have a major impact on him. Gleason studied music at the Long Island School for the Arts, and later he attended the New School University in New York, focusing on music and writing. While he had been playing, writing, and recording for years, it wasn't until 2009 that Gleason played his first show -- he had waited until he made a recording he could present to the public with confidence. That recording, a five-song EP titled The Dissonance, would be self-released a few weeks after his first concert, and a second EP, The Thawing, would arrive in 2012. His first full-length album, Brett Gleason, came out in 2014; he wrote all eight songs, produced the sessions, and played all the instruments himself except for the drums, which were played by Brendan Finnegan. It included the song "I Am Not," which spent 20 weeks in the Top Ten on the Logo network's music video show The Click List. Gleason's next release was 2017's The Manifest, featuring ten original songs. 2020's "Jealousy" was a three-song single issued in a limited edition of 100 physical copies, while Meridian/ECR Music Group released Prophecy in 2023. Featuring the single "A Sign," Prophecy was recorded in sessions in New York, Philadelphia, and Gleason's adopted hometown of Los Angeles, and featured some of his most personal and incisive songwriting to date.
© Gregory Heaney & Mark Deming /TiVo