Feature PHOTO CREDIT: NEIL KRUG
BRUNO MAJOR
RELEASES NEW SINGLE
‘A STRANGE KIND OF BEAUTIFUL’
ALBUM COLUMBO OUT JULY 21
VIA HARBOUR ARTISTS & MUSIC / AWAL RECORDINGS
PRE-SAVE ALBUM HERE
“Blissful, soulful, romantic and the perfect cure for any matters of the heart”
— BILLBOARD
— BILLBOARD
“Effortless yet impactful… godly discography”
— FLAUNT
— FLAUNT
“Bruno Major is building momentum with his soulful pop sound… timeless song writing, and intimate lyricism.”
— PIGEONS & PLANES
— PIGEONS & PLANES
“One of music’s best at soulfully articulating vast life concepts as well as the emotional spectrum”
— TMRW
— TMRW
“When it comes to love songs that make for Valentine’s playlists and break-up songs that perfectly encapsulate the disparity of losing partners, Bruno Major is one of the go-to artists that can perfectly capture these feelings in their most raw state.”
– EARMILK
– EARMILK
UK artist Bruno Major has unveiled his latest single ‘A Strange Kind of Beautiful’, the fourth offering from his upcoming album Columbo out July 21 via Harbour Artists & Music / AWAL Recordings.
‘A Strange Kind of Beautiful’ opens with a glittering piano instrumental and a Bach-style fugue, as Bruno toys with the idea of the simultaneous beauty and tragedy in love. He illustrates the travesty that a bond shared by two people can’t adequately be expressed to or understood by others, but also acknowledges that that is what makes it uniquely beautiful and special.
Animated entirely in black and white and taking place in one continuous shot, the accompanying music video allows listeners to dive headfirst into the beautiful lyrics and melody of “A Strange Kind of Beautiful.”
Animated entirely in black and white and taking place in one continuous shot, the accompanying music video allows listeners to dive headfirst into the beautiful lyrics and melody of “A Strange Kind of Beautiful.”

‘A Strange Kind of Beautiful’ follows ‘Tell Her’, album title track ‘Columbo’, and his first new track in three years, ‘We Were Never Really Friends’.
Whereas previous albums were written on the piano, Major armed himself with no more than a notepad, a pen, and an acoustic guitar for Columbo. “I wrote pretty much all of the songs like that,” he says.
Writing took place over six months and, aside from his LA memories, a musical diet of Arthur Shauf’s 2016 concept album, The Party, Bach, and Billy Joel fuelled his process. Then there’s Paul Simon, whose influence courses through the title track’s intricate guitar pattern and aching vocal.
Bruno and his longstanding collaborator Finlay Robson AKA Phairo (“Meeting Finn really defined the sound of my music,” he says) produced the album over a year. The chaos that had fuelled the writing was offset by the steady comfort of recording in familiar surroundings: his converted bedroom that now functions as a studio. When they wrapped, Major decided he’d name the record after his written-off Mercedes. The reason is simple, and powerful too: “that car – more than any other song – is representative of the whole feeling and period of writing the album,” he shares.
Columbo raises its curtain with ‘The Show Must Go On’, a piano flourish giving way to a clean, snare-less drum pattern and guitar strum that conjures the cosy fireside intimacy of Neil Young’s Out on the Weekend.
Elsewhere, ‘Tell Her’ is a slice of simmering R&B, while the heart-breaking ‘Tears in Rain’ is dedicated to his late grandmother. The song posits questions – “the little details” – to his late loved one that he never asked while she was here, expressing regret and longing for the time they’ll meet again. ‘18’ extrapolates his conflicting emotions regarding two family friends who committed suicide 16 years ago (‘I’m twice the age you’ll ever be’, he sings).
‘We Were Never Really Friends’ picks over the bones of a relationship gone wrong, while ‘You Take the High Road’ summons the spirit of Elliott Smith in its haunting vocal and sparse guitar. Trajectories is the third instalment of a series that started with ‘Places We Don’t Walk’ on his debut and the title track from the second album.
“Something I’ve managed to do with Columbo more than any other album is find a way of saying exactly what I want to say,” reveals Major. “The album investigates my personal relationships with people and other things. It is self-diagnosis on a grander scale.”
Columbo is Bruno Major’s defining statement to date. A musician who wears his heart (and art) on his sleeve, this is the sound of an artist who risked it all and somehow made it back to shore. The 12-track body of work weaves the autobiographical with the observational and stretches Bruno’s palette into new forms, yielding the most accomplished and “honest” expression of his music to date.
Whereas previous albums were written on the piano, Major armed himself with no more than a notepad, a pen, and an acoustic guitar for Columbo. “I wrote pretty much all of the songs like that,” he says.
Writing took place over six months and, aside from his LA memories, a musical diet of Arthur Shauf’s 2016 concept album, The Party, Bach, and Billy Joel fuelled his process. Then there’s Paul Simon, whose influence courses through the title track’s intricate guitar pattern and aching vocal.
Bruno and his longstanding collaborator Finlay Robson AKA Phairo (“Meeting Finn really defined the sound of my music,” he says) produced the album over a year. The chaos that had fuelled the writing was offset by the steady comfort of recording in familiar surroundings: his converted bedroom that now functions as a studio. When they wrapped, Major decided he’d name the record after his written-off Mercedes. The reason is simple, and powerful too: “that car – more than any other song – is representative of the whole feeling and period of writing the album,” he shares.
Columbo raises its curtain with ‘The Show Must Go On’, a piano flourish giving way to a clean, snare-less drum pattern and guitar strum that conjures the cosy fireside intimacy of Neil Young’s Out on the Weekend.
Elsewhere, ‘Tell Her’ is a slice of simmering R&B, while the heart-breaking ‘Tears in Rain’ is dedicated to his late grandmother. The song posits questions – “the little details” – to his late loved one that he never asked while she was here, expressing regret and longing for the time they’ll meet again. ‘18’ extrapolates his conflicting emotions regarding two family friends who committed suicide 16 years ago (‘I’m twice the age you’ll ever be’, he sings).
‘We Were Never Really Friends’ picks over the bones of a relationship gone wrong, while ‘You Take the High Road’ summons the spirit of Elliott Smith in its haunting vocal and sparse guitar. Trajectories is the third instalment of a series that started with ‘Places We Don’t Walk’ on his debut and the title track from the second album.
“Something I’ve managed to do with Columbo more than any other album is find a way of saying exactly what I want to say,” reveals Major. “The album investigates my personal relationships with people and other things. It is self-diagnosis on a grander scale.”
Columbo is Bruno Major’s defining statement to date. A musician who wears his heart (and art) on his sleeve, this is the sound of an artist who risked it all and somehow made it back to shore. The 12-track body of work weaves the autobiographical with the observational and stretches Bruno’s palette into new forms, yielding the most accomplished and “honest” expression of his music to date.

COLUMBO TRACKLISTING:
The Show Must Go On
Tell Her
Columbo
We Were Never Really Friends
When Can We Be
A Strange Kind Of Beautiful
You Take The High Road
18
Tears In Rain (for Granny)
St. Mary’s Terrace
Trajectories
The End
The Show Must Go On
Tell Her
Columbo
We Were Never Really Friends
When Can We Be
A Strange Kind Of Beautiful
You Take The High Road
18
Tears In Rain (for Granny)
St. Mary’s Terrace
Trajectories
The End
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.