PREMIERE: Tiberius - "Pale Ale"
By Erin Christie
PC: Elijah Adamson
During his senior year of college, Allston musician Brendan Wright released what later became one of his more recognized (and beloved) singles, a song called “Pale Ale,” which he released under the moniker Tiberius. The track bursts with energy from the gate, combining hypnotic melodies — fit with anything from fuzzed-out noise to saxophone — with earworm-inducing, poetic lyricism. Content-wise, it describes the turmoil that comes from searching for validation outwardly when not quite content with oneself to begin with. That said, its narrator is meant to be slightly unreliable, and, for the most part, naive, which explains how it conveys more questions than answers; more shortcomings than successes. Holistically, it hits like a punch in the gut, while encouraging you to get up and shimmy at the same time.
On the track’s inspirations and topical material, Wright goes into detail:
“A lot of Tiberius tunes start as personal mechanisms for taking my more intrusive trains of thought and working through them in a way that usually helps me quell my anxiety enough to sort out complex or overwhelming feelings. As a result, this work reflects me in a lot of ways, but only a specific restless, and usually unstable part of me.
‘Pale Ale’ was used as a way of channeling my anxious energy towards finding love in college into something that I felt reflected my more vulnerable moments in scenarios where I would meet a potential romantic interest. There were times where I would become overwhelmed with the idea of what could be rather than the situation at hand. The sobering reality is that neither party really has an understanding of what love really is and both still don’t understand what they need or want from a partner. On top of that, your college and life only seem to be moving faster and becoming more uncertain — in fact, you feel like you don’t even exactly comprehend how uncertain things are, but you certainly feel it twisting in your back. But you also know that you want to be loved and that combination is anxious as hell.”
PC: Elijah Adamson
In the time since “Pale Ale” was written, though, Wright has grown up quite a bit, especially considering the chaos that has ensued within last year and some change alone. With having graduated college, moved to a new city, started his first real job, and endured a worldwide shift with the introduction of the pandemic, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest that he’s been through a lot recently. That said, the themes “Pale Ale” discusses (namely, the element of uncertainty) retain their relevance.
Despite the stress of everything he’s had to endure as of late, that has surprisingly didn’t have effect on his creative drive, however. Especially with so much time to stare at the ceiling and ponder once quarantine hit, Wright took the opportunity to, slowly by surely, crack down on writing/recording the material that would expand on “Pale Ale.” With time, his collection of tracks grew, eventually becoming his forthcoming LP, Lull, a project that he says “explores the themes of the in-between stages” between full-on adulthood and the former.
On the record’s creation, he says: “As someone who produces in the same place they sleep, the project became kind of inescapable.” As the days dragged on, he kept turning back to the tracklist, tweaking minor things and almost driving himself mad over minute features and sequences. Still, he found comfort in having something to work on during an unprecedented situation such as this, especially since the material was so personal. “Toward the end, it really felt like the songs I was creating were becoming some of my closest friends,” he explained. “When the overwhelming sense of existential dread began to kick in, I would listen to the drafts of these tracks as reminders that I had some sort of purpose in life. I couldn’t let myself slip away without having these completed.”
Currently, Lull is finally on the brink of release. That said, the project needed a proper introduction, and Wright figured he ought to do so by turning back toward the track that essentially began the process. Hence, “Pale Ale” was remastered for the LP, conceptualized in music video format, and said video was worked on for weeks. Today, it is finally ready for public consumption.
On the video, Wright shares the following: “The original concept of the video was to stage a house party with a bunch of friends and people associated with the project, but obviously, that couldn’t happen. Then, one day, my manager Elijah and I were joking that we should do it with cardboard cutouts. It also just so happened to be the week that all of the new leases in Boston were starting and everyone was leaving cardboard all over the streets, so, I ended up acquiring a stash, and asked our small little fanbase to send in some pictures of their faces and that's just how it happened.”
Whether performing for the aforementioned cardboard cutout audience, riding around in the bay of a moving truck, reckoning with (or lamenting over) an unrequited crush, or (quite rudely) pouring his beverage on an innocent tea party guest, Wright exhibits an honestly masterful performance throughout the video's runtime. Though I’m definitely biased, it definitely put a smile on my face. But you’ll just have to watch for yourself!
Make sure to keep up with Tiberius on his socials, listed below, and keep an eye out for Lull once it’s formally announced! In the meantime, give “Pale Ale” a listen!