Chicago’s Brandon Markell Holmes has worked with Gorillaz and Joey Waronker, played at the Museum of Contemporary Art in the Windy City, and released his latest LP, The Museum of R&B, in 2020. He’s been known as a musician’s musician, but the secret is getting out with Holmes’ new EP, Garden, and its gorgeous lead single of the same title. Teaming up with electronic producer Rogue Vogue, Holmes’ music is rich and warm, sultry and seductive, innovative and forward-looking, and above all, soulful.
In “Garden”, Holmes croons about the many ways to love a person thoroughly and not according to external constructs of their identity. It’s a beautiful, heartfelt message that Rogue Vogue wraps in Afropop beats and house music textures. As the track progresses, it mesmerizes. “‘Garden’ is about seeing the person as they are and not the external societal constructs that have been placed on them. Loving all parts of a person without being distracted by societal constructs of identity,” says Holmes.
Hear this song on the PM Picks Spotify playlist.
