Andrew Bryant released his first solo album, This is The Life, in 2015. Ain’t It Like The Cosmos is his sophomore solo release and reflects on accepting personal identity. We met up with Bryant and talked about the new album that you can hear online now and at Proud Larry’s on March 9.
“It’s just something that popped into my head,” said Bryant. “Everything that happens seems to be things we make happen but do you blame god, do you blame existence? The idea is to not blame anyone and saying ain’t it like the cosmos is sort of giving that up and just accepting how it is and saying this is fine.”
With the succes of The Is The Life, Bryant’s thoughts have moved from convincing himself he should keep playing music to analyzing who he is as a person and how he can improve.
“I think the new album is. . .less about my identity as a musician and more about my identity as a person,” said Bryant. “This one has settled me into focusing more on me since I don’t have this looming existential crisis about if I should even be doing this at all.”
Bryant’s previous releases were traditionally quick turnarounds in regards to recording. Ain’t It Like The Cosmos departed from this and was recorded over the course of the last year.
“My average is about a week,” said Bryant. “I’m definitely the kind of writer that’s always thinking then eventually I just write it down. Every song was written in the space where water liars wasn’t really doing anything and I was just at home.”
With how long Bryant has been making music, he often has old songs sitting around waiting to be retooled.
“I’ve been writing for so long, almost 20 years, that on every album there’s at least one track that’s at least 10 years old,” said Bryant. “I wrote 20 songs for it and narrowed it down to 10. I just had a lot of time to spend on it so I did. Even after I’d written them they evolved more in the studio.”
Bryant recorded Ain’t It Like The Cosmos at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi with his backing band consisting of Ethan Frinke on bass, Kell Kellum on steel guitar, and Will McCarley on drums.
“All those dudes play on the record,” said Bryant. “It was a really collaborative experience.”
Andrew Bryant Band will be playing at Proud Larry’s on March 9 with Swear Tapes and Graham. Tickets are available online or at the door the night of the show. 
