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Aug 09, 2023 By Caleb Campbell

Kansas City-based indie singer/songwriter Brian Bulger debuted in 2019 with his first full-length album, Nine of Ten, followed by his 2021 sophomore record, Dissolve, introducing his layered songwriting style infused with folk storytelling and plaintive indie melodicism. Later this year, he’s set to return with another new record, Exist, which he has been teasing with a pair of new singles, “Massachusetts” and “Dead Language.” Today, he’s back with another new track, “Meanwhile,” premiering early with Under the Radar.

“Meanwhile” is a breezy and soulful effort, one which finds Bulger conjuring a sunlit version of folk pop tinged with bittersweet warmth. Bulger’s vocals convey both a gentle pastoral quality and a simmering sadness, accompanied by reflective instrumentation and golden-hued melodies. That insular undercurrent blends easily with the track’s lyrics, which find Bulger longing for simple normalcy. He dreams of the parts of life that are often taken for granted by those who have always had them, like a loving home and money to pay the rent. He confesses, “I know you got grit and benefits / You’re blazing your path, wind at your back / And meanwhile, I’m on the brink / Feeling normal, it’s harder than you think.”

Bulger says of the track, “‘Meanwhile’ is about when it seems everyone around you is leading normal and healthy lives and meanwhile you’re just trying to feel like a normal person. It talks about the ways that I can’t relate to my peers because of my abnormal and traumatic childhood, the norms I missed out on, and how that makes me feel like an “other”. As the song states in the first line, “I don’t wanna be the one with a story”, a weird and memorable childhood that people want to talk about; I would rather be normal and healthy. An alt-rock jam inspired by Pinegrove and Big Thief, Meanwhile carries the melancholy and angst of existing as a post-traumatic upbringing adult. This is the 3rd single from my new album, Exist, which releases this fall.”

Check out the song below. Bulger’s new LP, Exist, is out everywhere this fall.