Norine Braun comes with a lucid moment. Her most recent single, “Bolts From The Blue,” is a quietly thunderous revelation recorded with urgency, heart, and honesty. The Vancouver-based singer-songwriter lends her well-worn storytelling to the legendary Warehouse Studio for this unique take, recorded as part of Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Pop-Up Sessions.
The premise is stark and refreshing, and artists get one hour to track a song with the help of a house band. There’s just pure, unfiltered emotion. Braun thrives in this setting. “Bolts From The Blue” is a poetic reflection on aging, its ambiguities, its beauty, and the courage needed to greet each approaching year. Her wisdom here, instead, is wry and gracious and with a touch of her signature wit. Such is a song that acknowledges the bruises of life, but wears them proudly, as badges of strength.
The sound is rich and earthy, largely thanks to an impressive group of Canadian talent. Steve Dawson’s supple guitar picking and pedal steel playing lend the songs warmth and some subtle ache; Darryl Havers’s keyboards offer a bed of introspective shimmer. Geoff Hicks (drums) and Jeremy Holmes (bass) establish the groove with a calm authority, never crowding Braun’s vocals but always buoying them. And Alice Fraser’s harmony vocals are a soft echo of mutual experience.
The Juno-winning Sheldon Zaharko’s cool capture both preserves the session’s magic with striking clarity. Adam Popowitz at mastering then tucks all the emotion into a slickly polished final without ever taking the live-session soul out of the song. This is the second track Braun has shared from the Henhouse Popup Sessions, and it cements her as a songwriter who uncovers truths. “Bolts From The Blue” is an intimate, expansive meditation. In a world starved for real, Norine Braun serves it up not as a bolt from the blue but a lightning bolt in the most meaningful way.
Connect with Norine Braun on Instagram – @norinebraun
