“Think Yo La Tengo’s more intimate moments or Belle & Sebastian’s less Baroque ones and you are close. Think the self-assured, understated louche of Luna or the Velvet Underground’s third album…”
— Alex V. Cook
Surviving a tragic childhood, Tess Brunet found an escape through her adopted father’s record collection. She’d often play them on a Fisher Price record player she got as a Christmas gift at the age of 4.
Tess left her childhood home in New Orleans at the age of 17. She landed in New York and also a position at S.I.R. Studios. This opportunity allowed Tess to teach herself how to play drums during breaks.
Three months later, Tess found herself back in Louisiana in a band with Dax Riggs (formerly of Acid Bath). Only 6 months after she began playing, Brunet and Riggs went on to sign with Fat Possum Records as deadboy & the Elephantmen. They played music festivals (Austin City Limits, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and others) and toured across the country. Deadboy was great, but Tess ached for more artistic freedom. What was intended to be a 4 month road trip to visit close friends turned into living in Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and Athens, Georgia for a span of 2 years. This period of time provided many great opportunities; like backing legendary Lady Bo and Twin Tigers. Most recently, she was the drummer for Generationals and collaborated on the Trust EP.
Throughout all of this Tess wrote and recorded as much as possible, also taking the opportunity to teach herself to play other instruments, guitar being her latest quest. She released an EP under the name Animal Electric that only began to hint at what was to come.
For some time now living on the road, and in her van, Tess has been compiling material for a solo debut while in other bands. Fat Possum Records veteran Bruce Watson produced the Au Ras Au Ras self-titled debut album; it was recorded at Dial Black Sound in Water Valley, MS February and April of 2011. Tess’s voice appeals to the aesthetic sense and her songs are strengthened by good friends and fellow musicians Seth Kauffman and Michael Libramento of Floating Action. Currently Au Ras Au Ras plays live shows as a two-piece, with Patrick Hodgkins on bass, they play to backing tracks. Tess and Patrick are slated to record the follow up record in April at Dial Black.
This full length record is a collection of some of Tess’s most poignant songs of longing, time wasted, and redemption.