I’m sitting here in silent amazement as all of my senses are listening with the deepest attention to a most gorgeous voice accompanied by a soul-protruding guitar. No Tomorrow by Brother My Enemy will exceed all of your expectations. You will end up being entirely absorbed by this rock ballad and probably with a sudden urge to replay some of the 2000s hits.
The breezy acoustic guitar played by Aaron Murray goes to sway us into the first verse “There are still ashes from the fire we made/ and the smoke is still here as I watch it fade” well damn if this isn’t the most poetic way to say that there are still some remnant pieces of an expired relationship. That charming voice you heard and will soon fangirl over, is that of Jaimis Kirk, the lead vocalist of Brother My Enemy. In this acoustic version, the rock band managed to accomplish an astonishing feature: a wholesome song with mainly just 2 instruments, out of which one is the voice. We’ve got a case of capital importance as conjunctions of such few musical components are extinct in 2020.
The soulful chorus cuts deep and exposes the guilt experienced after the ego has failed: “Break me down, tear me apart/ And I’ll take the blame/ ‘Cause I thought I knew everything/ Help me see that part of me again/”. Now we get closer to the title’s essence, understanding the emotional intricacies it carries. Although never specifically mentioned in the song itself, No Tomorrow effectively sums up the doleful feeling the record conveys. A remarkable choice of words given that all 5 band members (Reagan Thorne, Aaron Murray, Christopher Spiers, Jaimis Kirk, Jeff Harris) and including a former 6th (Lisa Bulhoes) have participated in the songwriting process. 6 artistic people that agreed on 2 words. Unheard of.
In the last part of the 2nd verse, Jaimis Kirk’s voice shines through with impressive stability when pushing for a much louder and stronger emphasis on the word mistakes: “If we only knew how the future would play, would we all change our mistakes?”, reverting as well the narrative to us, to humanity rather than just him alone. With a voice like that though, I’m pretty sure one can sing his way out of past mistakes 😀
The other equally important half of this musical creation, Aaron Murray, impressively manages to create a luxurious atmosphere with his magical guitar and background vocals, to the point you forget this is the acoustic version. It just feels complete, it feels perfect. Then guiding us further into the song, we get a short glimpse of Suprise, Surprise… An acoustic guitar bend!!! Here I have to give credit to Reagan Thorne who explained this phenomenon which I initially mistook for an electric guitar: “Generally an acoustic bend is a little more painful than an electric (tension is tighter), so its more difficult to do. There’s also a piano right from the start, supporting the bottom end as the electric version of the song included heavier guitars, so we just felt that adding piano in the choruses would maintain heavy dynamics…” who knew that an acoustic version could pack so much mastery in its simplicity? Bravo!
At around 02:13 that guitar creates an incredible whirlpool of sounds that drifts you right in the middle of it all, building up the anticipation for the bridge: “Wait for tomorrow (tomorrow)/ To end all the sorrow (the sorrow)/ But what if the day never ends? (never ends)/ Today never ends”, crafting the everlasting portrayal of today being the moment that truly matters, the last one as far as we know. As they say, “the past is gone, the future is not promised, all we have is today.”
With a melodic voice, a breathtaking guitar, and an exceptional symbiosis between the two, No Tomorrow feels like a future classic, embodying the traits of the greatest hits humanity got to experience before we turned digital all the way. And if our attempt at describing this masterpiece wasn’t enough to convince you, then the following name just might: Dan Brodbeck, the one person responsible for the mastering of No Tomorrow, is a Grammy-nominated, Juno Award-winning Producer (The Cranberries, Delores O’Riordian).*mic drop*
Show your support for quality musicians by adding No Tomorrow to your playlist on Deezer HERE, on Apple Music HERE, on Google Play HERE, on Tidal HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2020
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 