BRIAN JIN sign off (temporarily) with ten-track odds & sods collection, ‘Secret Words’

SAINT LOUIS-based THE BRIAN JIN release their ‘Secret Words’ album project – which is likely to be the last material from the outfit for some time according to founder, Brian Kious.

“It’s fair to say as far as being a live band, ‘Brian Jin’ is something that’s sidelined for a while,” he said. “And ‘Secret Words’ [vinyl via Elastic Stage] is a collection of what I call homeless songs. Singles that weren’t on albums, outtakes, B-sides, and out of the ten tracks, only ‘Kitty Kat,’ and ‘For Lindsey,’ are new. 

“The purpose of ‘Secret Words’ has sort of shifted between two narratives. The first is as my lineup was going off to do other things and expressed a disinterest in continuing, I thought, “that’s it, it’s time to close the book on Brian Jin,” and my last action would be to compile these tunes into an album and call it a day.

“But as the new year came and the album was put together and ready to release, I miraculously started writing several new songs and began looking at improving my recording capabilities. The inspiration of a couple of the new tunes is downright sacred,and I didn’t want to settle for my typical lo-fi approach.

“So, my view now is that ‘Secret Words’ is the boundary that will separate the Brian Jin as a lo-fi, psychedelic, garage folk-rock band from Brian Jin [Kious] the singer-songwriter.” 

The album’s focus track, ‘Your Secret Words,’ is as good as anything the group have previously produced, and a fitting tribute to Brian Jin the band – and their self-effacing frontman – should this indeed be their finale.

“Thank you, and I think you might be right, from a pop/rock perspective about ‘Your Secret Words’,” added Kious. “Rick Vaughn played drums during our 2023 tour and invited us into his recording studio. This was a song we recorded live for a live album, and I thought it would be a great one to flesh out in the studio. It has just enough snark and innuendo in the lyrics, and each of my instruments gets their own solo bits. I hope folks love it and sing along with it.”

For a collection of homeless, and by and large unreleased material, there’s a commendable amount of quality included on today’s release. For example, the Sun Studio rockabilly sound of ‘The Lost & Found,’ the Procol Harum/King Crimson, prog rock crescendo ‘Venus,’ right through to the softer, Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection era, ‘For Lindsay.’

“You are definitely far kinder to these songs than I am. Some of these are pretty good tunes, but I felt like having singles laying around with no album was unfinished business, and I’m from a time where the album is king, and I can’t shut that off in my head. Some of the songs that were already released as singles maybe didn’t get the attention I felt they deserved, so this record gives them a second chance. Also, I’m kind of making a stylistic pivot, not intentionally, just naturally occurring, and the type of psychedelic garage folk rock I’ve been doing is kind of coming to an end, and this is sort of the parting words of that block of time.

“On ‘The Lost & Found,’ a homeless single, this is my attempt at writing a silly Sun Studios style blues rock tune, or a Little Richard type thing. Nick Kladky is playing the lead guitar on that one and steals the show. I actually mention each member of my family in the lyrics, whether they know it or not.

And on ‘Venus,’ Casey Wollberg takes the lead vocal on. The opening thought on this was remembering back to listening to my elders talk about how bright the stars used to be at night. I thought about the light from Venus keeping them awake, and it turned into a song about escapism. It was slated to be on our most previous album, ‘A Hush Falling Over The West,’ narratively though it didn’t fit. I also wasn’t happy with the mix, still kind of not.

“With ‘For Lindsay,’ it’s funny that ‘Tumbleweed Connection’ comes through. I wrote the guitar bit as an homage to Lindsey Buckingham, who in my opinion, never gets enough credit for Fleetwood Mac’s success.”

And with an eye to the future, those who may grieve the shelving of BRIAN JIN the band, may not have too long to wait for the next melodic chapter from Kious.

“I’m currently working on some new songs and spending more time perfecting them rather than rushing to the studio. Ideally, I’d like at least a new single out in some form by the end of summer.”

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