17c起草社区

Rising Australian talent Elliot Brown describes himself as a singer-songwriter, and while the description is technically true, it鈥檚 also one that brings to mind visions of an acoustic troubador armed with nothing but a guitar and a bunch of folk tunes – a long way from the polished dance-pop found on Brown鈥檚 debut album Empyrean.

Brown released the album to iTunes, Spotify and Amazon on October 31, having spent more than a year crafting it.

鈥淢y heart is definitely in pop music. I worked really hard to find the right producer who鈥檇 be able to understand what I wanted to do – pop music, and a hint of dance music as well. I play the piano and the keyboards, and that鈥檚 how I write all my music, but I knew I needed to find the right producer to take my music down that pop/dance avenue,鈥� Brown told the 17c起草社区.

鈥淚 get a lot of inspiration from other songs I love – art is recreated from art.鈥�
He鈥檚 not wrong – the album鈥檚 lead single, As I Go, is injected with the same Chic-esque funk that characterized two of the year鈥檚 biggest global hits, Daft Punk鈥檚 Get Lucky and Robin Thicke鈥檚 Blurred Lines.

鈥淸Get Lucky] was one of the key songs we were thinking of when we made that song. I love how they revisited that whole 70鈥檚 sound, and we wanted to do our own take on it – it came out really well, I think.鈥�

The Brisbane-born, Sydney-based 28-year-old admitted his own musical influences went a little further back, listing Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John and Carole King as some of his all-time favourite artists.

鈥淎nyone who wrote their own songs on the piano is a huge influence on me,鈥� he said.

Darren Hayes fans should also note Empyrean sounds more than a little like some of Hayes鈥� poppier solo work – Brown acknowledged the Savage Garden star as another artistic influence.

鈥淎nd he鈥檚 a Queensland boy too…there must be something in the water up there!鈥�

Brown鈥檚 music is already on heavy rotation at Melbourne鈥檚 gay and lesbian radio station, Joy 94.9. He said he had no hesitation about launching himself as an openly gay artist from day one.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even try to hide it. I鈥檓 putting my heart out there with this record, so I thought I may as well be myself. I鈥檓 proud of who I am and I have nothing to hide, so I鈥檓 happy to stand up for gay rights. I鈥檝e been working with the organisation Community Brave, and I鈥檇 love to be a role model for the community.鈥�

Bouyed by the positive response to the album so far, Brown said he planned to enlist DJs to remix some of the album鈥檚 key tracks – and is also working launch shows so that listeners can hear Empyrean鈥檚 highlights in a live setting.