Rose Brokenshire is the connection to nature that we all need to seek out from time to time. And nature plays a big part in her path to making music. From the experience of yearning to be close to nature and thus becoming a forest firefighter in northern Canada, Brokenshire creates musical pieces that hail back to that time spent in the most real and dense of natural environments. For those of us who perhaps don’t have many chances to immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature, Brokenshire’s music suffices. Her folksy, atmospheric, ethereal sounds reflect the simple yet intricate particularisms of the natural world. Just like this world, Brokenshire’s music is pure, untouched, holy.
In her earlier albums, like Seeds You Grow, Wend, and Six Years, there are strong acoustic vibes, with folksy rhythms emulating from the strums of a classical guitar and lack of hard percussion. As she progressed into 2020, Brokenshire began to wander into a more ambient electronic direction, taking on new sounds like synths, the keyboard, and lo-fi elements to create a spacey, mystical soundscape. Her change of environment, in which life temporarily became one of isolation in her apartment, might possibly have played a part in this slight shift of style. Either way, both styles still manage to reflect that simplicity and intricacy of nature, as nature is so multilayered and complex that it somehow, at the same moment, can be plain and quiet and uncomplicated on the surface but also convoluted and boisterous and thought provoking when you look deeper.
For her latest single, “Left and Right,” Brokenshire travels the ambient electronic path. Echoing background synths carry the song up into the air, followed by gingerly plucked piano notes, just barely touched as though the wind itself was pushing the keys. A softly strummed guitar also hangs out in the background, the strings tweaked just enough to be heard by the unassuming listener, who perhaps wonders to themselves if they even can hear it or not. Everything is so delicate it’s all practically just a breath.
There is, however, the atypical addition of solid percussion beats, which can be heard plenty. Most of her previous songs either didn’t use percussion or used it lightly. “Left and Right” still has subtle percussion compared to songs from other similar artists, but it’s strong for Brokenshire. It adds a wonderful layer of gentle power alongside the synths and the dispersed piano.
Brokenshire sings in her gorgeous, ethereal vocals, and this time around it gets to have center stage for most of the song. While other songs tend to contain harmonies throughout most of the number, “Left and Right” features Brokenshire’s voice unlayered, with just a touch of processing to make it drift and fade. Only towards the end do we finally hear the other harmonies, slipping in almost unnoticed and providing a lovely subtle addition to round out the song.
In continuing the trend of nature in the music, even the lyrics have a touch of it imbued in them. There are moments of direct reference to nature:
You burn like pine
Crisp and calm
And you watch life sail
And you drift in tides
As the oceans cry
Could Brokenshire be singing to Nature itself?
You were divine
You were not mine
From words like this, it almost seems as though she’s singing about the unreachable otherworldly power that nature holds (“You were divine”), and perhaps suggesting that we humans have no business trying to control it (“You were not mine”). And perhaps Nature has a right to fight back:
And it all comes round
Those quiet thoughts
Finally made a sound
Are these “quiet thoughts” that “make a sound” the personification of Nature fighting back? Considering Brokenshire’s passion for nature and preserving it (why else would she become a forest firefighter?), it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to consider this as the message of the song.
