New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Record Summer, aka songwriter Bret Rodysill, premiered a video for their new single "White Dress" today via BTR Today, to announce their debut full-length album, Lay It Bare, will arrive March 5 via Bodan Kuma Recordings.
Discussing the single, Rodysill stated, "'White Dress' is about the juxtapositions that occur during marriage... how you bounce from a grandiose day with a gorgeous dress to absolute boredom and exercises with self-control. The question of spending the rest of your life with somebody versus standing with the sun shining in your hair, bright and beautiful.
Rodysill has been to the brink and back. Lay It Bare arrives ten years after releasing a critically-acclaimed, six-song EP, and five years after two singles for the London-based label Loose Narrative. The Record Summer played Primavera Sound, SXSW twice, and CMJ three times, and were poised for big things, before Rodysill was grounded by illness.
After surviving a rare, intense, nervous system disorder, mental illness, and hospitalization, Rodysill now looks back on that period and is just grateful to be alive. "You think you can count on your health, on being well so that you can do all of the other things you want to do, but sometimes, things don't work out that way. I was pretty much incapacitated for years," said Rodysill. The songs on Lay it Bare reflect this gratitude and a look back at ten years of hell.
Lay it Bare illustrates that hard-won perspective, with songs about loss, grief, and near-tragedy. He adds, "The song deals with pain, both mental and physical pain. I'm not sure which is worse."
Rodysill has begun speaking openly about his experience with both physical and mental illness and was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at SXSW 2020, before its cancellation due to COVID. He has also worked with The Wishart Group, the mental health-based charity of Michael Angelakos of
Passion Pit.
With a new album and a new perspective, Rodysill hopes his work can inspire the type of recovery he has struggled so much for, provide support for those trying to cope with mental health issues, and convey a backdrop for those living in the 21st century.
