J. Bernardt Announces Debut Album “Running Days”

J. Bernardt is proud to announce that he will release his debut album Running Days on 16 June, 2017 via Play It Again Sam. Today he shares the opening track from the album, ‘On Fire’, as a subtle statement of intent. It’s warm piano chords, persistent guitar hook and gospel infused harmonies melt away as he soulfully laments, “No way back to where we came from”.

Listen to ‘On Fire’ here or via soundcloud

It’s an innocuous lyric, but one that nods to both the changing nature of love and a sea-change in J. Bernardt’s sound; as he shifts gears from being in a band known for effervescent ’60’s-tinged indie-pop, towards a deeply personal soul-inflected sound. “Looking back, I suppose I didn’t know what I was making during the making of the album” he says. “But now when I listen to it I find it hard” he pauses, “It’s such an honest record”.

On this his road to self-discovery, Deprez began to play with the sort of genres he’s always had a passion for, but rarely got to express in Balthazar, “I still love the old-school ‘60s sound we created in the band—but for this project I began to think about what I’d play at a house party”. It’s perhaps for this reason, that Running Days brims with elements of R&B, soul and hip-hop; echoing the emotional clarity of ‘90s-era D’Angelo and the vocal resonance of How To Dress Well, over beats inspired of Child of Lov and the melodic simplicity of Gorillaz. Whether in the sunny vocal hooks of ‘The Direction’, the jazzy, mellifluous horns of ‘Wicked Streets’ and ‘Motel’, or the lush serpentine rhythms of ‘Calm Down’, which surges with synths and skittering breaks.

For a record so steeped in themes of love and loss, J. Bernardt’s Running Days remains incredibly warm, while avoiding dramatic cliché, perfectly melding his love of potent melodies, heartfelt lyricism and lush vocals. It marks the start of a spectacular era in Deprez's work - one of beguiling rhythms and personal revelation - which leaves the record posing an open-ended question: not about what he is running away from, but what glittering new chapter he is running towards.

J. Bernardt’s debut album Running Days is due for release on 16 June 2017 via Play It Again Sam.

Track List

1. On Fire
2. Calm Down
3. The Other Man
4. The Question
5. High Low (Interlude)
6. Wicked Streets
7. My Own Game
8. The Direction
9. Motel
10. Running Days

Live Dates

May

• 18 – The Great Escape Festival – Brighton, UK – Tickets
• 31 – [PIAS] Nites @ La Maroquinerie – Paris, FR – Tickets

June

• 7 – The Waiting Room – London, UK – Tickets
• 14 – At the B-Sites – Cologne, DE - Tickets
• 15 – Bergain Kantine – Berlin, DE – Tickets
• 16 – Maifeld Derby – Mannheim, DE - Tickets
• 29 – Festival Europavox, La Cooperative de Mai – Clermont-Ferrand, FR – Tickets
• 30 - Festival Couleur Café – Brussels, BE - Tickets

July

• 1 – Rock Werchter – Werchter, BE – Tickets
• 6 – Les Ardentes – Liege, BE – Tickets
• 18 – Valkhof Festival – Nymegen, NL – Tickets
• 19 – Boomtown – Ghent, BE - Tickets
• 22 – Borgerwood Festival – Antwerp, BE - Tickets

August

• 4 – Dranouter Festival – Dranouter, BE – Tickets
• 12 – Lokerse Feesten – Lokeren, BE - Tickets

September

• 2 – End of the Road Festival – Dorset, UK – Tickets
• 9 – Pop Monument – Bergen op Zoom, BE - Tickets

October

• 6 – Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, BE -Tickets