Heartbreaking Bravery

Heartbreaking Bravery is in the midst of its return, but it’s showing—and will continue to show—a slightly different bent.In my initial presentation of Heartbreaking Bravery, it was—first and foremost—a near-daily music blog. I published over 1,000 standalone pieces (including several featuring guest author submissions), released a meaningful, 100-track benefit compilation, and strung together a…

Excuse Me, Who Are You? perform as part of the MELT ICE showcase at the High Noon Saloon on February 15, 2026. For the near-duration of the horrific tenure of the second Trump administration, the United States has dulled Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into a blunt instrument of federally-sanctioned domestic terrorism. In one of the most deliberately perverse moves of this century,…

To clear the air: shaping the future of Heartbreaking Bravery is going to be an ongoing process, and posts during that managerial interim are going to be more intermittent than not. But one thing I can say with certainty is that live videos are going to remain an integral part of what Heartbreaking Bravery both covers and produces. And while the video for The Spine Stealers‘ would-be Tiny Desk…

Heartbreaking Bravery will return in 2025. In Heartbreaking Bravery‘s initial run, the phrase “stay tuned” became a bit of a mantra. Two simple words that carried a double meaning. A hyper-intentional choice of language that spoke directly to the promise of an ambiguous but worthwhile future, and the literal act of keeping things in tune. A train has to stay on the rails to get to its intended…

10 Years: Spring 2011-2021 (A Visual Retrospective)

Knowing what the future holds, no matter how certain you think you are, is an impossibility. For now, it appears we’re on track to find a return to live music at some point this year, for better or worse. Safety and sustainability will be key in the pursuit of giving back an aspect of life most audiences and performers have been sorely missing for over a year. In the spirit of that looming…

The Best of 2020: Songs and Videos

2020 has been a difficult year. There’s no way around the fact that the past 365 days have constituted one of the bleakest runs of days in any of our lifetimes. From the violent white supremacy of America’s police making headlines to a global pandemic that’s left hundreds of thousands dead around the world to an incalculably incompetent showing from government officials around the country,…

A Quick Hit, A Long Pull, A Pre-Emptive Goodbye

At some point over the next few months, Heartbreaking Bravery will cease the bulk of its editorial aspect. A lot of thought went into this decision and the scant posting of the past few years likely reflected this was on the near-horizon. While I still firmly believe in the mission of this site (to provide a space that elevated smaller artist’s work to a point of focus typically reserved for…

The Best of November & December 2019

For the past 5+ years, I’ve been dividing this site’s content between three main platforms: Soundcloud, YouTube, and bandcamp. A rare Spotify link appeared on occasion for truly exceptional releases but I tried my best to avoid that situation entirely. I chose those three for ease of access and general convenience, as they seemed to provide a more direct way to unlock off-the-radar artists and…

The Best Records of October (2019)

Surprise EPs, rapid-fire singles, daring long-form narratives, and more populated the best records of October. All but two of the artists featured in this list have been featured on this site in the past, while the two new entries provided head-spinning introductions that set each respective act up for further exposure. Each record hits different nerves of pleasure, so whether prospective…

The Best Music Videos of October (2019)

While 2019 hasn’t been as strong for the music video format as some previous years, there are still gems to be found. A quartet of them popped up during the course of October, each one accentuating the strength of their central song while holding their own as a work of art. Varied in approach and execution, each of these clips had something unique to offer. Each one deserves a certain level of…

The Best Songs of October (2019)

October held a lot of surprises, a few new singles sprinkled among their ranks. From resuscitated projects to fast follow-ups to fascinating departures, the month seemed to be as rich as any in 2019. Nine of those tracks made a sizable impression as the month wound on, making waves right up to the end. While it’s literally impossible for one person to consume every song that comes out on any…

The Best Records of Q3 (2019)

22 excellent records were released between June and August. While no posts went up on this site about those records in that time, there’s a remedy: a compilation of all of those titles. Basement punk demos, intimate folk epics, adventurous rap odysseys, and quite a few spaces between those triangular points comprise this particular field. Due to time constraints, these will be presented without…

The Best Songs of Q3 (2019)

Between June and August, an avalanche of great songs came crashing down into the world. From genuine song of the year contenders (Big Thief‘s “Not” chief among them) to bands striking gold multiple times (Lauran Hibberd, Pom Pom Squad, Kal Marks) there was a lot to consume. Here’s a playlist of the best of best, presented with no extra fanfare. All of these selections are bold enough to stand on…

The Best Music Videos of Q3 (2019)

While there were virtually no Heartbreaking Bravery posts that went live over the course of the year’s third quarter, work was still being done. Meticulously tracking releases as they flooded in proved to be more challenging, as the parameters for submissions kept widening. Music videos proved to have an especially fruitful run over that course (give or take a few days from the end of June to…

Dreaming Out Loud: Vol. 2 (Patrick Jennings)

Earlier this year, Ben Morey and Katie Preston broke ground on Dreaming Out Loud, an intimate live performance series for this site. Watching the two of them together made it clear that, no matter the future of this site’s editorial content, this was a series that needed to continue. Before too long, a few more appearances had been booked, including one from a man whose music has meant a lot to…

Devon Welsh – War (Music Video)

Editor’s Note: This post is one of several that were scheduled to go live several months ago but never went through. Rather than let these posts die an undignified death, they appear today in their original, unaltered forms. 

Majical Cloudz’s demise had some deeply regrettable mitigating factors that made their exit a necessity, for everyone. Fortunately, the voice that anchored that project…

Campfires – I’ll Go Home (Stream)

Editor’s Note: This post is one of several that were scheduled to go live several months ago but never went through. Rather than let these posts die an undignified death, they appear today in their original, unaltered forms. 

For the past few years, Fire Talk has been building a reputation as one of the most consistently excellent labels in post-punk and beyond, headlined by artists like Deeper,