Uncompromising, enigmatic, andwildly ambitious, Brooks Nielsen (co-founder and lead singer of Southern California surf-psych icons The Growlers) is proud to announce hisfirst full-length solo album One Match Left: a double-vinyl, twenty-song journey into the heart of darkness, andtoward the light that eventually remains. “There’s happiness inthere,” says Nielsen, speaking from his Los Angeles home. “The bands that Ilike have a sense of humor, like Television Personalities or Jonathan Richman, but there’s tragedy too.That’s the old theatrical tradition.” One Match Left showcases these aspects in epic fashion, with Nielsen playing therole of carnival barker, lullaby crooner, and rock & roll priest, dependingon the track. It’s actually Nielsen’s first time around without his partnersfrom The Growlers; he’s now joined by old friends Christopher Darley (guitaristfor Father John Misty) and Levi Prairie onsongwriting duties. No stranger to theemotional landscapes of modern pop life, producer Michael Andrews expands the songs fromthe theatrical and into the cinematic. From his Elgin Park Recordings studio inGlendale, Andrews makes chart-topping hits (like the song “Mad World” from hissoundtrack to Donnie Darko) and cult favorites (hescored the entirety of Freaks & Geeks and Pete Davidson’s King of Staten Island). “He’s an encyclopedia and extremely talented,” says Nielsen ofAndrews. “Which meant he could be a great commander in the studio.” Assembling a core team ofhimself on guitar and bass, Robert Walter (TheGreyboy Allstars) on keys, and JoeyWaronker (Beck, Atoms For Peace) on drums, Andrewsinfuses the material with a lush palette, more akin to Harry Nilsson and SergeGainsbourg than anything we’ve heard before from Nielsen. Album opener “All That You’ll See is Everything” sets a carnivalesque tone, a loopy and optimistic revelation aboutthe songs that follow. “Virgin Lady Luck” alternately thunders and whispers, a standout single that’s alreadyturning heads on social media. “Long Train” channels Charanjit Singh’s Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat and West African jammers Tinariwen into a driving dance party. “How Do You Like It So Far (This Life)” attempts the impossible: thoughtful reggae pop, free of beach bumclichés, woven together into an atmospheric dub soundscape. “It’s all a bit of smoke and mirrors,” says Nielsen,speaking both of One Match Left in general, and of the cover art made with photographer Pamela Littky (known for her surrealistad campaigns for hit shows like Dave and Pam & Tommy). Nielsen as magician,as clown, as poetic trickster. Through the prism of time, we’ll see One Match Left for the many things thatit is: a reflection on the death of a relationship, a public reckoning for afan-favorite band, a love letter to his wife (and mother of their three youngchildren), a survey of global sound and vision, and a daring step forward forone of contemporary music’s most essential voices, Mr. Brooks Nielsen.