Voices that complement each other in a way that paints a beautiful love story – Australian singer/songwriter and actress Clare Bowen and singer/songwriter Brandon Robert Young were clearly always meant to be. (The couple are married in real life.)

Sweet soul sounding vocals and melodies, the music of Bowen*Young in their debut album ‘Us’ is captivating and poetic, taking you on a journey of their personal stories whether that be of love or of friends and more!

One story in particular highlights the challenges of autism in their song Aurora. Of the song, Bowen*Young say;

“This song began with three beautiful children, who we’re lucky to know, and affectionately refer to as ‘Auroras. The word itself means dawn or beautiful light. These kids are the kind of people who glow from the inside out and make everyone around them want to be the best version of themselves. They have each faced different challenges throughout their lives and are some of the most remarkably wonderful people we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. One of those specific challenges is being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder whilst living in a world built for Neurotypical people, so it was very important to us that ‘Aurora’ made its debut during Autism Awareness Month to honour the uniqueness of individuals living with ASD.

“The further we got into writing the song, the more we wanted to include everyone – which is of course, what our Auroras would tell us to do! So we encourage our audiences to think about those people in their lives who might be a little left of centre, a little different. Some of them might have been through hell and back, but all exude this gorgeous, golden light from deep within, and get it all over everyone around them. Just being around an Aurora inspires us to want to emulate that spark, celebrate individuality, and pass it on. ‘How blessed be I, whatever did I do, to be standing in the light shining off of you?’”

Bowen*Young have pulled in elements of folk, Americana and country and have blended them together to create their own signature sound of Cinematic Americana. The duo have a unique stamp within their music especially within their distinctive vocals which are beautifully recognisable, inspiring and comforting.

Songs such as Water to Wine and Hair of The Dog will be known to fans already and have been performed at their live shows since last summer. Both upbeat and heavily folk-Americana driven, the two songs show an energetic side to the duo showcasing their ability to perform songs of all emotions.

It is of course the emotional ballads where their artistry truly stands out. Elegantly expressive vocals, descriptive lyrics, songs such as Seven Days, Us, Gets Late Early, To The Bone and Halo highlight their Cinematic Americana portrait.

Halo, a heavenly version of the Beyoncé hit is masterfully performed by Brandon Robert Young which draws in and heightens the emotions of the performer and the listener. We first heard this version live at BST Hyde Park when the pair supported Billy Joel and you could feel every note that Young was singing.

Clare Bowen and Brandon Robert Young co-wrote nine of the ten tracks on the album and collaborated with Sean McConnell (Brothers Osborne, Buddy Miller), Mikky Ekko (Vance Joy, Teddy Swims) as well as Roger Alan Nichols (Paramore, Steven Tyler) as producers.

Both Bowen and Young speak of working with McConnell as a gift. When we spoke to them last year they said;

“We had never met Sean before, we had heard his name around Nashville and knew of him and respected him. A friend of ours Tracey Gershon works with Sean on the publishing side. She said “I think you guys should link up with Sean and try to write something”. It was during the pandemic and everyone was locked at home so we did a zoom write. Writing a song over a screen is kind of weird you know? But we got on that call and immediately hit it off with him and had a wonderful time. We were probably on with him for three hours and we wrote Water to Wine. That was the very first song that we wrote with him. Cut to later on down the road when people could actually start to interact with each other in person, he invited us out to the studio to do sort of a bare bones rough recording of the song just to give it a little bit of new life after that initial day. After spending about 8 hours with him in the studio we left and were in the truck for not even two minutes and Clare said to me “he’s the one, he has to produce our album”. I am more of a slow burn kind of guy. I like to take my time and think about things and ponder and I was like “Ok, let’s do it, he’s the guy”.

The production on the album delivers songs that are rich with texture yet handsomely mellow!

From the energetic start of Water to Wine to the album’s more dreamy close of To The Bone, US has an effortless and natural rhythmic flow to it which delivers a serene and heartening feeling throughout.

Pre-Order the album here