Brightness, the moniker for Sydney musician Alex Knight, can be found in some pretty special corners of the Aussie music scene. Formerly of the Canvas Kites, his new solo outing has supported the likes of Alex G and Middle Kids while earning praise from some of the countries harshest critics.
However, since the release of debut record Teething in 2017, those live airings have been few and far between – but it’s not because of lack of opportunities.
“I actually don’t particularly enjoy playing live much too be perfectly honest,” says Alex matter of factly, ironically speaking to us just hours before taking the Manning Bar stage to support City Calm Down.
“It’s not something that I’ve curated or anything- it’s just one of those things.”
Fusing rock, folk, pop and all manner of other influences into one colourful melting pot, Brightness is a treasure that far too few seem to know about in Australia; hidden to an extent in plain sight, a gem in the haystack of modern guitar bands.
“I don’t really like playing with bands that sound like me,” he admits candidly, yet with all the humility you would expect.
“If I get offered a show supporting a band, it’s always some guitar pop band. I’d love to do some stuff with heavier bands – but that seems like too big a gap to be taken on by a booking agent.
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“I made an agreement with this American agent called Ground Control Touring – they have Nails and Code Orange, which is super awesome.”
Watch Brightness – ‘Oblivion’ below:
Would a move to America be on the cards for Alex, to thrash out his mysterious jams alongside some of the more unique head-banging acts across the Atlantic?
“If it was realistic, I would have already done it,” he says.
“I was living in England for six years and I thought I’d just be back in Australia for a little while, but then the record deal came through, so it made sense to stay… for now.”
The record deal in question, signed with the celebrated I Oh You! Label (Violent Soho, DMA’s, DZ Deathrays) saw the release of Teething and will also host his new self-titled LP, with beautiful singles ‘Dallas’, ‘Year Of The Goat’ and standout track ‘Bukhansan’ already available everywhere.
“It’s the name of the mountain that overlooks Seoul – that song is a story I made up about a drunken night out in that city,” he says of the latter.
“One of the group members says that he heard the voice of this goddess – the point being the struggle between my rationality and my faith. There are moments like that where you encounter the beauty of this scale – your agnostic self is really put to the test.”
“Every song is a different version of myself, but there’s this constant relationship between stress of some sort – be it mental of physical – and the theme of gratitude,” he says of the rest of the album.
Watch Brightness – ‘Bukhansan’ below:
“There’s an appreciation of the sublime, but in specifically grim circumstances. It’s not jumping around clicking your heels – more the relationship between spiritual struggle and transcendence.
“Something purer than just what we would call ‘happiness’ so to speak.”
With the new record comes a change of scenery for Alex, who closes our interview by telling us of the vague plans for the project.
“I’ve actually made the decision to move to Canada, which is in the works for early next year,” he tells us.
Being on the border of the US, we ask what he thinks he can expect with his music on the other side of the world.
“There’s a different culture in Canada and America with the college radio station,” he muses.
“You can tour there, and it makes sense. We’re paralysed a bit over here in Australia – at least some types of music are – but it’s no one’s fault.
“You hear some artists knock triple j – but triple j do what they do to survive – they have to do their own thing.”
Given we might not have him around for much longer, make sure you check out Brightness when it drops, and keep an eye on his socials for any potential (emphasis on potential) shows.
Brightness’ self-titled sophomore album– Brightness, is set for release this Friday 25 October.
