To some, music is a mission, with each chord dripping in politics and each bar directed at some critic’s praise or curse. I’ve been one of those critics for a few years now, an accessory to those ideas that music needs some kind of inherent politics or grand, meta concept. It’s a conversation worth having, but it betrays what made so many of us fall in love with music in the first place: the excitement of a stomping beat, clapping your hands and the smile of a warm melody.
Bronze Radio Return is the kind of band that embraces this feeling. It’s not that their music never looks inward for some deeper idea or that they don’t challenge themselves as artists. In fact, each album ultimately sees the New Englanders playing with some new texture or experimenting with a new sound. But they never lose sight of music’s simpler joys, of a folk stomper’s revelry or the communal joy of a sing-a-long.
I had a chance to talk with Bronze Radio Return’s front man, the always smiling Chris Henderson, about his band’s upcoming show at the Frequency this Sunday and his music in general. While we drifted between everything from new albums and songwriting to Ryan Adams, everything eventually came back to that excitement behind music; the kind that inspires bands to hit the road and urges audiences to dance.
“We all had a compassion about music and wanted to be involved in a band that hopefully someday traveled and got to go out and be a part of this adventure,” Henderson said of his band’s younger days. “[We thought,] ‘Let’s see if we can put together this thing, making music that we feel passionate about and go out and have fun doing it ... Wouldn’t it be crazy if we could just play in a band and drive around the country?’”
That sense of passion has guided Bronze Radio Return since 2007, sending them on a journey spanning four albums and an EP that’s led them across the country. It’s that same journey that’s brought their music through the festival circuit, sent them through smaller dives and bigger stages with the likes of John Mayer and Michael Franti, and even scored them a gig for none other than President Obama himself.
That adventure is what led Bronze Radio Return to Light Me Up, a new album coming out this Friday on DigSin. While the album sees the band playing with an increasingly poppier production, with less banjo and more beat, it never really loses the sense of excitement that the band set out with years ago.
“I hope people react to it with smiles, stomping feet and clapping hands. I think it’s going to be good music,” Henderson said of the new album. “It’s going to be fun and I think it’s going to lend itself to a high-energy live show.”
Buzzwords like “high-energy” and “fun” are the Bronze Radio Return mantras. Henderson and company have always played around with music’s joys, making listeners live in the moment as the beat stomps and the banjos dance. Bronze Radio Return staples like “Light Me Up,” the lead single from their new album, and the not-so-subtle “Shake, Shake, Shake” are dedicated to those live shows.
That light spirit has made Bronze Radio Return a television regular; their songs pop up whenever there’s a need for some revelry, whether it’s an “American Idol” montage or a Bill Murray romp.
“I never expected to have anything lined up in a Bill Murray movie,” Henderson laughed after hearing Bronze Radio Return’s “Further On” in last year’s dramedy “St. Vincent.”
Bronze Radio Return’s stand at the Frequency comes on the heels of Light Me Up’s Americana-inflected pop tunes. While there’s bound to be plenty of new songs, Henderson is looking forward to adding new spins to old favorites and, ultimately, just having a good time with the new setlists.
“We like going out and trying to excite a room,” Henderson said at the end of our conversation. “We’re excited to have new music. It’ll be a new set of songs, with different approaches on some of the older songs we play. It kind of feels like a fresh start on this next leg of our adventure.”
