Freak-Folk artist Cereus Bright shares another track from his forthcoming album “Anything.” “Only You” is an expansive, soulful cut from songwriter Tyler Anthony and highlights the intricate production and lyrical depth encompassed on the new record. Perhaps his most emotive and raw to date, Cereus Bright addresses the idea of vulnerability and the feeling of closeness with someone.
“Sometimes the people or things that help us the most can hurt us the most. ‘Only You’ lives in that tension, knowing that you can’t have closeness without vulnerability. Ultimately, celebrating the significance one person can have for another,” says Anthony.
Speaking of vulnerability, the song comes on the heels of Anthony quitting his day job and moving from Knoxville to Mexico City. With a new start, he’s helped establish a recording studio, exhibition space, and community center with a group of local Mexican artists. The change in environment mimics many of themes from the new album: from dealing with life’s mundanity to feeling the urge to do something drastic and uncomfortable.
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Life transpires between extreme ups and downs. However, all the magic happens in the middle. As if tracing an emotional fault line right down the center, Cereus Bright explores this space with an intimate eye-for-detail and a universal appeal. The Mexico City-via-Knoxville, TN singer, songwriter, and artist born Tyler Anthony magnifies fits of emotion in the form of magnetic hooks only to delicately examine identity via inventive and immersive soundscapes. He hones his vision to perfection on his third full-length offering Anything out July 19th.
Since 2012, Cereus Bright has quietly moved into this light. He enraptured, entranced, and engaged listeners with albums such as “Excuses” [2016] and “Give Me Time” [2021]. Meanwhile, fan favorite “Stella” amassed 22 million-plus Spotify streams followed by “American Dream” with over 8-million Spotify streams. Along the way, he emerged as the rare presence who could share the stage with either The Oh Hellos or Sturgill Simpson and Philip Phillips. Throughout 2022, he recorded his latest body of work.
“Where my last record was very personal and intimate, I wanted this project to expand to bigger ideas,” he notes. “I attempted to take the mundane and make it abstract. When you put something familiar in an unfamiliar place, you see it differently. To get there, I explored more mythological and otherwordly ideas and sounds than ever before – while trying to retain the core intimacy of songwriting that I’ve always strived for. I hope what we made is a perfect balance.”
After signing to Nettwerk, Cereus Bright returned with “Car Alarm” (2023). In four-songs, Bright examines the mundanity of life through artful arrangements that hear subtle saxophones on “Chasing the Feeling,” warm violins on the road-trippin’ “Seven Wonders,” and modest auto-tune on “Car Alarm.” This welcomed evolution starts a new, more cerebral chapter for the artist. He metabolizes philosophy and existentialism into wide open arrangements and poetic lyricism.
The follow-up “Boys” (2024), continued the focused songwriting amidst lush waves of Psychedelia. “Unfaithful” and “Boys” feature cinematic orchestration, blending nuanced lyricism with moody instrumentals. “Drifting” and “Pink Sky” are meant for contemplative sunset summer drives with expansive sonic palettes that evoke a sense of floating, a sense of relief from the mundane.
Now, in 2024, Cereus Bright takes full flight on “Anything.” Over the course of twelve songs, he weaves together stories of the grandiose and the mundane with the brilliance caught in there in the middle. “I love it when philosophy, poetry, or art makes me feel seen and connected,” he leaves off. “That’s what I would hope someone experiences when they listen to this. I’m just a songwriter who’s trying to navigate two different worlds, balance being an artist and working a job – to make sense out of life. But I really don’t know either,” he smiles.
Tracklist:
01. Seven Wonders
02. Boys
03. Chasing the Feeling
4. Car Alarm
05. Only You
06. Drifting
07. Pink Sky
08. City in the Sky
09. Unfaithful
10. Ride
11. Horizons
12. Don’t You Fake It Too?