Artist Feature: Braden Bales' new chapter.
- magscenee
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Braden Bales’ music was introduced to myself back in March 2025, at his New York set of the Me Myself And You Tour, where Bales showcased a strong performance with songs that melded indie and folk influences with a strong pop core.
Since then, the newly independent Ontario-born creative has entered a new chapter of his career. Over the last 3 months, there has been a release of three singles that have shown the artist's growth and a slight sonic shift to more rock influences.
The first release of the singles, FML, dropped in November 2025. FML exhibits an angstier side to Bales’ lyricism mixed with a wittiness that exclaims specific mundane experiences, such as messy cars and messy roommates. There is a lot to be pissed off about - and rightfully so.
Starting the song with a punchy guitar melody, Bales sets the situation through the visualization of sitting in the pungent smell of cigarette smoke in a hot room. As he sits in his thoughts, Bales goes further to give us a deeper, genuine insight to what else is weighing on his shoulders. Simultaneously, more guitar and bass instrumental layers get brought in and coalesce into an aural tipping point. The chorus, filled with a scramble of emotions - anxiety, sentimental yearning, and loneliness to name a few - is a perfect blend of alt-pop and rock influences that make for a great experience to scream along to in the car.
Moving forward to December 2025, Bales released another single, NOBODY TO SHOW IT TO. Another angsty track - however it reveals a different nuance and root to the complex emotion. Bales delves into exasperation that comes from feeling isolated as you watch the world continue to spin around you.
The first verse is instrumentally bare, allowing the listener to hone in on Bales’ lyrics that illustrate a sinking feeling in your stomach. As more layers get brought in, the song gathers its punchy feeling in the chorus that simulates the same falling mentioned in the lyrics “How did I fall through the floor?” Resetting for the second verse, Bales brings in harmonies to his instrumentals that further emphasizes seclusion and sinking further into a spiral. Ending the song with a reverberated outro, we receive raw, painfully honest confessions that bring the sinking sensation of the track to its rock bottom.
Bales’ most recent release, THIS IS REALLY HARD, dropped on January 12th. This track is the most vulnerable of the trio, as it recollects reconnecting and hooking up with an ex-partner.
Beginning with a heavy, chuggy guitar and a phone dialing sample, Bales rummages through conflicting emotions and thoughts that come up during intercourse. Though there is no physical distance, the emotional distance between the two is present - amusingly comparing the relationship’s closure to the Pope being a “Jew from China” and pointing out each individual’s intentions through acts of shaving. Realization hits harder in the chorus as Bales details the passage of time and how he still loves the girl on top of him, even though he’s lost her.
Comedically bridging the chorus and second verse through an audio bit of a squeaky bed, Bales gets even more vulnerable about the awkwardness of the scenario from his point of view. As he lyrically falls apart in the verse, Bales locks back in as he re-enters the chorus. Finishing the experience with the conclusion that the encounter is not a revival of the relationship, Bales’ outro of the song contains heartbreaking lyricism that unravel double entendres to show the distance between the pair.
Alongside the singles, Bales has been releasing episodic skits that feature Jake Goldman as his therapist - giving each song a visual life of its own. The trio of songs are part of an EP that will be released prior to the start of The FML Tour, where Bales will be bringing Ezra back on the road. The two will be performing at least two Afterthought songs during Braden’s set, whilst the VIP experience will contain the official Afterthought set.
You can purchase tickets to the shows through Braden Bales’ website.
