Track of the Day: Bren Berry, ‘Beautiful Losers’

A glorious followup to his previously released singles ‘Winter Song’ and ‘Hairpin Bends,’ Bren Berry’s new track is a wash of love and tender intimacy. ‘Beautiful Losers’ marks the third release from Berry’s forthcoming debut solo album.

A nod to the iconic novel by Leonard Cohen, the single was initially written as a wedding anniversary gift for Berry’s wife. “Karen and I are massive Leonard Cohen fans,” the songwriter explained, “and I read his 1960s novel Beautiful Losers to her when we stayed on the Greek island Hydra where he wrote the book.”

As a result, the new single is bursting with expertly coded references to both Cohen’s masterpiece and the memories shared between Berry and his wife. With harmonies from Mark McKowski and Rachel Grace, Berry’s driving vocals soar over the cacophony of earworm melodies and groovy rhythms.

“I had Covid when I wrote the song, so I wanted it to be slightly trippy,” Berry said of the new single. “I also wanted it to have a Japanese feel, so my co-producer Gavin Glass and I worked on creating keyboard sounds to enhance and complement the guitar hooks. We were inspired by artists like Ryuchi Sakamoto, Flaming Lips, David Bowie, Echo & The Bunnymen and David Sylvian.”

Similarly to his previous releases, Berry’s recently track comes accompanied by a stunning music video created in collaboration with Global Tour Creatives and their Chicago-based motion designer Mark Rizzo.

"Bren came to Global Tour Creatives with the idea of creating a video for Beautiful Losers based on a short video that I created, which was one long reverse camera move," Rizzo explained. "He wanted the same idea but using imagery from Japanese art.

“He also wanted it to reflect Leonard Cohen’s work and his interest in Zen Buddhism, so we bounced reference images off each other, and I created a mood board and style using computer generated images that represented the feel of the song. I really loved the process of making the video for Hairpin Bends using Steve Simpson's stunning art and it was a very exciting, creative process to create the video for Beautiful Losers."

‘Beautiful Losers’ is out now!