Mr. Brightside

posted in: Artist Features

Andrew Varner calls his music pop with a purpose, meaning it’s meant to provoke and inspire, not just show off his proficiency on piano. But there’s no hiding those skills”all of Varner’s songs contain expertly-wrought piano melodies blended with soft beats and bright strokes of electric guitar. Autumn Leaves introduces you to the singer-songwriter’s dusty voice, fluid fingers and tender-hearted lyricism. On the polyrhythmic How To Be Alone, he takes turns ratcheting up the guitar to a fever pitch and downshifting into an easy, mid-tempo amble. Lest you get the idea that Varner’s from the Bruce Hornsby school of rock, skip over to Let Me Down for dynamic, driving post-punk. Yeah, there are some nice cascading piano parts in there, but there’s plenty of jagged edges, too. Even pianists get to be badasses.