BRNS (Free Entry Show!)

When asked to describe the feelings and circumstances surrounding the making of their wily sophomore album, the three members of Brussels-based BRNS (pronounced “brains”), cite a general desire for change—as well as the relative exhaustion from years of non-stop touring—as motivating factors. “We had been on the road for over 3 years after our last record,” says bassist Antoine Meersseman, “When we started writing again we all wanted to renew ourselves, a revival. We wanted to surprise ourselves in the process.”

For a band whose hallmark has always been a kind of emphatic sonic adventurousness (and whose visuals have never shied away from being charmingly and/or alarmingly surreal), Sugar High meets what is already a high benchmark in terms of experimentation and outright catchiness. “I think when you write or create something, it’s always a reaction to what you did before,” says Leyder. “You go on the same path and you try to explore it more, or you do something different. That’s what we did.”