With his third album Bittersweet due out November 8th via Single Lock Records, today we are happy to premiere the third single from the upcoming album of Muscle Shoals, Alabama-based Space Tyger.
Don’t let the keywords in the opening paragraph fool you into pinning Space Tyger into a certain category though. This may just surprise you.
If you know anything about the rich music history in the US, you probably have at least an understanding of the impact of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the sounds they were creating, and some of the all time greatest records that were recorded there. Single Lock Records, which was founded by John Paul White (Civil Wars), Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes), and Will Trapp, based in Florence, Alabama, is in a way bringing that Muscle Shoals Sound back in a modern way while capturing the area’s magic and talent. Their roster is diverse, consisting of artists like St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Lera Lynn, Dylan Leblanc, Penny and Sparrow, The Kernal, The Pollies, Cedric Burnside and more. Yet what they didn’t have until now is….Space Tyger.
While Muscle Shoals is known as a “recording town”, Kyle Bragwell, aka Space Tyger, writes, performs and records all on his own. The producer’s sound could be best described (or generalized) as indie pop, or well synth pop. But a deeper listen to the singles so far reveals Space Tyger’s roots steeped in the sounds that made Muscle Shoals famous – soul, blues, rock, and R&B. It’s just delivered in a different way. Bragwell’s lyrics are also both open and honest, compelling and well written like so many of those greats from the past. And those are the things that stick out about the latest single “Dopamine”.
“Dopamine” addresses the rising number of people grappling with mental health issues, something that is being talked about more openly today, but still a major issue, especially for younger people. Bragwell told us, “Mental health is very much a concern for me. I have my share of struggles, but the song is diving into asking why people around my age have struggled so much with their mental health.”
Opening the song with the lyrics “Everyone my age is on medicine / spinning their heads against the wind“, on the majority of the “Dopamine”, Bragwell primarily keeps the production simple with a strumming guitar and light beats; letting the lyrics like “everyone my age wants to be cruel / words are weapons that we use” and “we all just seem to be passing through” pierce the listener. You could easily picture Bragwell live with just an acoustic guitar singing the lyrics to an engaged audience, a testament to the songwriting. Then as the song is winding down to the final 45 seconds, Bragwell takes the song to the next level, really completing the emotion with a change of pace in the form of an euphoric gaze that would make Justin Vernon himself swoon.
Listen to the gorgeous and thought provoking new single “Dopamine” from Space Tyger above, or find it on your streaming platform of choice. Space Tyger’s new album Bittersweet is out November 8th via Single Lock Records.
SPACE TYGER ONLINE:
WEBSITE // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM
UPCOMING SPACE TYGER TOUR DATES
11/1 – Huntsville, AL @ Barking Dog Arts
11/2 – Florence, AL @ Singin’ River Brewing
11/7 – Birmingham, AL @ Seasick Records
Listen to Space Tyger’s new single “Dopamine” on our Monomania Spotify playlist:
