Love doesn’t exist in isolation—it lingers, shifts, and resurfaces in ways we don’t always expect. Such is the case for 27-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Brandon, who explores all that and more on his full-length debut Before You Go, which is set to arrive May 9 on Secretly Canadian. A boundless collection of soul and R&B-infused alternative-pop guitar songs, Before You Go explores the blurred lines between past and present, heartbreak and healing. Brandon also shares the album’s lead single ‘Right Back,’ a guitar-driven, alt-R&B track where warm vocals and syncopated beats meet rich soundscapes.
‘Right Back’ reflects on a cycle Brandon has found himself in before—running toward something he knows will hurt because for a moment, it feels like home. “It explores the complexity of addictive love, and how love can be so blinding,” he says of the track. “Likening someone to cyanide, a poison, BUT still throwing yourself at them, thinking it’ll work out. It’s an intense, internal struggle. And no matter how hard you try not to, you keep running right back to them.”
WATCH OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘RIGHT BACK’
Brandon, the project of Brandon Joseph, was born to Trinidadian parents in Riverside, California, and grew up in a family of musicians and all-around music lovers. His mum, a singer, inspired him at a young age to sing himself, joining the kids choir at his local church at the age of 7. From there, his love for music grew and became the epicenter of his life.
Brandon stormed onto the scene in 2020 with the highly successful release of his Coming Clean EP, which garnered millions of streams and an outpouring of fans from the jump. Over the next few years, he released a string of singles before unveiling Blush in 2024—his bold, 4-track EP and debut on Secretly Canadian. Blush, a body of work rooted in folk and acoustic melodies, entangled with intricate vocal layering, expanded on Brandon’s songwriting and production and laid the foundation for this next chapter. Now, Brandon officially returns with Before You Go, a fully realised and personal portrayal of self. “Taking my time with this record—allowing it to grow and not rushing the process—has made me the happiest I’ve ever been with my music,” he says.
As he takes this next step, one thing is certain: this is only the beginning.
Before You Go doesn’t just document heartbreak; it embraces the complexities of love, the beauty of uncertainty, and the inevitability of change. When crafting his full-length debut — he aimed for a lasting sound that may live in a record collection forever. “A lot of my favourite artists are stuck like Gorilla Glue on the planet; they’ll never be erasable,” he offers.
“I want to create timeless music like that too.”
The album is shaped just as much by past love as it is by moving away from home, losing friendships that once felt permanent, and struggling to redefine himself in the wreckage of change. Through it all, one lesson remains: the heart wants what it wants, even when logic and better senses say otherwise.
Before You Go, Cover Art
Before You Go, Tracklisting
01. You Look Like Love
02. Right Back
03. Serotonin
04. 2 Good
05. Incomplete
06. Miss U
07. The Sun
08. September
09. You
10. Seeing Stars
11. Her Too
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