Norine Braun: Conventus The Eye of the Heart Review: Catchy Grass Roots Rock

Channeling a variety of different tones and managing lyrics that tread in a plethora of emotional themes, Norine Braun’s “Conventus The Eye of the Heart” is a deep musical experience that requires multiple listens to truly appreciate.

Although you’ll often be drawn to the guitar and bass work of Adam Popowitz, at the essence of this album is Braun, who is comfortable in a variety of roles. Sometimes she writes of the parental experience, at others, she’s a political crusader. This makes “Conventus The Eye of the Heart” the type of journey that may not strike everyone’s musical fancy, but don’t mistake that for fault. There will be a track or two everyone can relate to on this album. Her comfortable and soul-filled voice screams of the past, with easily identifiable influences to Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith play a part in her sound, but Braun’s band is so much more.

If Braun were a member of the X-Men, she’d be Mystique. Her often sexy voice is able to shift into whatever she wants, almost forcing a listener to give her a few more seconds to make an impression.

The hypnotic feeling goes further than just the vocals. Aside from the normal accompaniment of guitar, bass and percussion, a blues harp, keyboards, harmonica and penny whistle find their way into the sound. Simply put, this album shows off all the flavors Braun and her band bring to the table. There are plenty.
In “99%.” Braun becomes an activist. Her thoughts on the occupy movement are interesting ones and if you’re from the same mind as her, you’ll enjoy the song and the lyrics. An animated musical video for the track also adds another level of appeal to the politically charged track.

“Lightening Strikes Twice” is a catchy track that will immediately remind country pop fans of a slightly more macabre version of KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree.” A cool harmonica and bass intro sets the scene perfectly. Although a tad on the repetitive side, Braun’s slightly throaty but charismatic vocal performance will get you to slap your knee.

“Boy” is a different type of track that has Braun take the role of a parent. It’s easy to imagine her sitting on a child’s bed, flipping through a children’s book and reminiscing while singing. This track may be the best example of Braun’s vocal prowess as well. The held notes, the soft verses are captivating. Part jazz singer with tinges of gospel and even country, “Boy” is the song new listeners may be drawn to the most.

Through the sometimes challenging emotional content, combined with solid musicianship and Braun’s often dark yet silky vocals, ““Conventus The Eye of the Heart” is an album that is nearly impossible to classify by genre, but is something that quickly steals your ears.

Watch the video for “99%” below:

For more information on Braun, click here.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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