Curb Records singer-songwriter Dan Bremnes completes his ambitious, autobiographical trilogy with the release of The Hero & The Villain, out today (1/16) — listen HERE and watch an accompanying music video HERE. The full 15-track catharsis serves as the culmination of three volumes of new music that began with last year’s unveiling of The Hero EP, which dropped in June and was followed by The Villain EP in October. Over the last two-and-a-half years, the award-winning troubadour crafted the complimentary installments around the globe, writing and recording in Costa Rica, Nashville, Los Angeles and Sweden.
The Hero & The Villain writes the ending of Bremnes’ story as he wrestles with theology, searches for identity and makes peace with the past. Openly discussing mental health and anxiety, the record examines the masks we hide behind and the lies we tell ourselves. Celebrating the freedom that’s waiting on the other side of introspection, the adventurous artist explores the tension of his ego and the limits of his humanity across the most personal collection of his career.
“I was trying to put into words what I was wrestling with. The feeling that there were two sides of my own character that were at war. It felt like I was losing the battle,” Bremnes shares of the internal struggle that inspired his new music. “I started to understand these two sides. There was the one who I showed to the world, ‘the hero,’ and there was the one I would hide, ‘the villain.’… It turned out, this ‘villain’ was actually just the broken parts of myself that had never been healed. These parts had been locked up for too long. They were reaching for my attention. Reaching for the light. I started to do my best to heal and love these parts of myself. And slowly, it started to happen.
“It’s been the most intense and important journey of my life. It has been saving my life. It has been setting me free,” Bremnes continues. “This project is an effort to tell that story. To bring you on that journey. I hope it will also help to set you free.”
Stream or purchase The Hero & The Villain HERE. For more information, visit www.danbremnes.com.
The Hero & The Villain Tracklisting
- “Started With You” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Fly Away” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Dreamland” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Find Yourself” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Hero & The Villain” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Human” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Eden” (Dan Bremnes)
- “Sweet Spot” (Dan Bremnes, Dan Muckala, Paul Duncan)
- “Cortado” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “The Other Side of Summer” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Call Your Name” (Dan Bremnes, Benji Cowart, Jordan Mohilowski)
- “Distance” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Reaching for the Light” (Dan Bremnes, Joel Crouse, Seth Alley, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Celebrate” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)
- “Hero & The Villain (Acoustic)” (Dan Bremnes, Anton Göransson, Isabella Sjöstrand)