7/10

Across his new studio album 'Marauder (That Was Once Joy)', singer-songwriter Brian Halloran turns his attention towards time; not simply as something that passes, but as something that takes. Relationships fray, ambitions change shape, regret lingers and desire keeps pulling forward, even as age makes the available distance feel more finite.

Much of the album is built around musicians from his regular New York circle, including Rodney Flood, Zack Zaro, Nicholas Trautmann and TJ Viola, with additional vocals from Kacie Sky, Steph Hurley and Natalie Colton. It's a collaborative structure that helps the record feel truly connected rather than overly authored from one fixed perspective.

Lead single 'Kind' establishes the tone particularly well. Built around a driving acoustic arrangement, the song asks what kindness means in a world shaped by isolation, disappointment and uncertainty. The track looks at kindness as a conscious choice, something that requires effort precisely because the surrounding conditions make withdrawal even easier.

Elsewhere, the album opens itself to outside voices more explicitly. 'Contrition' is co-written and performed with Jes Hudak, while 'Radio' comes from songwriter Grey Revell. Those contributions reinforce the album’s sense of exchange, fitting naturally with a collection already exploring with the relationships people build, lose and then carry forward.

Produced by Halloran and mixed by Ricky Watts, the record is designed to preserve the personality of those performances instead of flattening them into one single immaculate surface.

'Marauder (That Was Once Joy)' is ultimately about imperfection, unfinished business and the pressure of limited time. And Brian Halloran isn't trying to defeat that pressure. He simply asks what might still be made from it.

Brian Halloran's new album 'Marauder (That Was Once Joy)' will be available to stream from the 23rd October.