Following the recent release of her standout debut English LP Clashes (through Play It Again Sam) and the sharing of the dark, dystopian video for first single “Horses”, Polish alt-pop wonder Brodka has debuted a striking and symbolic video for track “Santa Muerte” on The Independent. The track-inspired from a trip to Mexico-is propulsive and delicate, capturing Brodka’s nuanced reflections on death. The video manifests these themes through the conduit of a Japanese Butoh dancer journeying through a forest. Brodka explains: “I was really surprised by how people treat death there. Young kids from a very early age are taught not to see it as something depressing, but something that tells you about the next life, and not really in a sad way. The song is like a conversation with death but treating it as a conversation with a friend. We have this relationship with death all of our lives”.

Having already released three acclaimed albums in her native Poland, including 2010’s double-platinum Granda, Clashes will mark her first release in English, and-furthermore-her most diverse and ambitious album to date. Clashes dazzles with Brodka’s singular blend of orchestral pop and cosmic poetry that’s undercut with hint of brooding darkness. Even in a language that’s not her first, she asserts her informed approach to songwriting in a way that’s emotionally engaging. Dramatic without being overwrought, Clashes is a widescreen and determined listen from an artist in constant forward motion.

“I am a car-crash girl…”, resounds the opening line of lead single “Horses”, referencing Kim Gordon’s description of Courtney Love in her autobiography and hinting at Brodka’s musical and artistic interests. Despite the rich textures present on the record, she is as equally influenced by New York no wave, jazz and R&B. Additionally, her early experiences of church services have heavily impacted the depth and melodrama that charges throughout Clashes.

This interest in religion and spirituality has also influenced the visual themes running throughout her artwork, photography and ornate sense of style. “For this album the big inspiration was liturgical outfits,” she explains. “I wanted to take the colors – silver, gold, white, purple, blue – and the shapes of some of these clothes and turn them into something more modern. I am always trying to take some of the meanings of the subjects that I am interested in, chew them up, digest them, and throw up something that is more my kind of thing.”

Operatic and intelligent, palpable and profound, Clashes isn’t just a step forward for Brodka, it’s a bound, and promises only the expansion of a global audience for such a truly remarkable artist.

Brodka Clashes Tracklisting:

1. Mirror Mirror

2. Horses

3. Santa Muerte

4. Can’t Wait For War

5. Holy Holes

6. Haiti

7. Funeral

8. Up In The Hill

9. My Name Is Youth

10. Kyrie

11. Hamlet

12. Dreamstreamextreme