A lot of musicians wants to be storytellers, some with varying degrees of success. Few can certifiably accomplish this and put that on their resume — but Texas-native Brigitte Mena can.
Mena was born to be a storyteller, and her vehicle is music. Telling raw tales through atmospheric melodies, her music is quick to catch your ear. But not one to just create moody pop-rock tracks, Mena uses her versatile voice in conjunction with her songwriting to strike a chord with audiences and tell relevant, resonant stories.
Mena originally started crafting music back in high school, and started her first rock band as a freshman at Southern Methodist University, where she studied Music and Psychology. Her music studies helped her hone her craft, and her work in psychology gave her an avenue in which she could explore her interest in human behavior. Rather than sacrificing one passion to follow the other, Mena has combined the two: using her talents as a musician to shine light on topics like behavior, mental health, relationships, and identity.
In 2018, Mena released her debut album, Maslow, which explored Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and heralded the arrival of a distinctive new talent. Tomorrow, August 21st, she will be releasing her new album, Element, which showcases her growth as an artist over the years. While her bandmates, sound, and style have evolved over the years, her knack for telling powerful stories has remained, and even grown.
Today, Substream is thrilled to be teaming up with Mena to exclusively stream Element a day early — which you can find below. If you’re already a fan of her, or are looking for a new artist that’s reminiscent of Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, and Eisley, then this record will be right up your alley.
“‘Element’ explores my personal journey over the course of a year late 2018 through 2019,” Mena tells Substream. “During this time, I had made it a goal to write at least one song a month for a year about whatever I was experiencing during that time. The album makes several references to nature, magic, and fantasy – being in your ‘element,’ whatever form that may be.”
