Simpson left it all behind to strike out on his own, and formed The Whistles and the Bells, making peace with himself and his former band mates. The entire experience, from the highs of a national spotlight, to the lows of his darkest moments on the road, provided plenty of material for the young songwriter. The result is his new band project’s debut album, described by his publicist as “the dark, and at times musically twisted, autobiographical snapshot of Bryan’s personal earthquake surrounding the education of studying his maker.” Obviously, he was particularly struggling with his faith. The debut album encompasses “all [of] the modern southern gothic swirl of sounds from blues, to Americana, to New Orleans-style horns and darkness of the [sic] self-exploration,” the type of material, he contends, that creates a “personal soundtrack of a character from a Faulkner novel.” The first single, “Mercy Please” was a Rolling Stone magazine daily download.
“Mercy Please” – The Whistles and the Bells from The Whistles and the Bells – March 4th
“Transistor Radio” – The Whistles and the Bells from The Whistles and the Bells
Simpson described indie rock as initially “sounds that were too edgy for a major label, but with some of the best ‘indie rock’ bands in the world all being signed to labels, this term really takes on a new meaning,” he wrote, describing it as “rock music without limits. Indie rock has spawned so many genres…that I think is incredibly exciting. The more sub-genres you have, the more experimentation there is; someone does something new that can’t be categorized,” he wrote, so “it’s usually put under indie rock.”