From the first stark, high-tempo hit of snare drum, ‘Skin Remembers’ signals another unpredictable shift in Brain Leak’s abundant energy. Clearing the storm-cloud introspection for something brighter, faster and more propulsive, the artist’s latest collaboration with co-producer, Russell of electro-post-punk project Material Goods, rests on an unrelentingly direct bassline. The dizzying intensity of infatuation is layered on top, expressed in scuzzy, increasingly chaotic guitar riffs and Engelhardt’s most confident vocal performance to date.

Where the stripped approach of early singles cast a shadow in the shape of post-grunge icons, Hole and Mazzy Star, the climbing drama and self-assured delivery of ‘Skin Remembers’ pushes Brain Leak into the realm of dominant feminine power populated by Wolf Alice, Amyl and The Sniffers and Dream Wife.

“’Skin Remembers’ is a bit of a sonic change-up from Brain Leak’s previous releases,” Engelhardt explains. “I started playing around with a little Roland T-8 drum machine and it was inspiring me to write more up-beat songs. I like the fact that you can really move to it, but it retains signature Brain Leak motifs like the slightly unpredictable structure and vulnerable storytelling. Lyrically, it’s a mixture of me recounting a night with someone and reflecting on my experience of being infatuated by them.

“On occasion, it’s as if my day-to-day rational brain has been kicked out of the driver’s seat and suddenly, I’m memorising the tone of their voice, the way they say certain words, the nuances of their facial expressions and every detail of their being.”

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A Cardiff-raised French/US national, making home in amidst the roaring weekends and disappearing, Victorian industrial relics of Manchester, Engelhardt’s growth into a semi-solo persona parallels her deeper and more profound personal realisations. Fronting up to unhealthy attachments, ‘Trying’ reveals itself as a generous retelling of the blind alleys and sharp teeth connected with giving up to infatuation and overwhelming personal attachments.

Recalling the hazier, heart-on-sleeve moments of powerhouse guitar expressionists, Hole or Mazzy Star, Engelhardt, also a member of tipped trio, Adjustments, welcomes Orielles drummer, Sidonie Hand-Halford to the fold, alongside former Blanketman drummer, Ellie-Rose Elliot, initiating shifts to meet overlapping touring and recording commitments. Peaness guitarist, Jess Branney, and former Working Mens Club guitarist, Giulia Bonometti complete the line-up to form an indomitable, all-female Break Leak line-up.

Engelhardt says: “’Trying’is a song about attachment and the extreme emotions that can come along with it. I feel things very deeply and the song instantly expresses that I don’t just feel a standard emotion, I tend to feel the amplified version of it.

“I remember writing the song almost in one go after a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where I’d talked about the feeling of being on a seesaw. I didn’t know how to just stay in the middle, didn’t have a clue what balance felt like, without a crutch. Challenging emotional situations without any kind of crutch was very unnerving and felt completely alien.”

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