Bren Berry x Crash Ensemble

Bren Berry 
Crash Ensemble

MusicTown presents a very special collaborative performance between Bren Berry who released his acclaimed debut album in January this year and world renowned new music group Crash Ensemble. This is Bren’s first new music since his former band Revelino broke up 24 years ago. He has captured people’s hearts with his beautifully romantic and melodic songwriting. 

Bren Berry, well-known a concert promoter in Ireland since 1998, hung up his musical boots when his band Revelino broke up in 2001. He picked up his guitars again and started writing songs following a creative writing course in 2021 and released his majestic debut solo album “In Hope Our Stars Align” in January 2025. 

The twelve songs on the album cover personal reflections on family, friendship, home, love, resilience, music and creativity, and address some of the social and political crises that we are living through in these troubled times. “I think of the album as a collection of love letters and protest songs which are layered with hope and an intentional sense of positivity. The album title is taken from the song Fire Drill and is inspired by Seamus Heaney’s lines “hope and history rhyme” and “hope for a great sea- change” from The Cure At Troy.” 

“I loved making my debut record and was genuinely unsure if I would ever play live but the chance to perform with The Crash Ensemble at The National Concert Hall is a pinch-me moment and a huge privilege. They are one of Ireland’s musical treasures and I cannot wait to hear what they do with their new arrangements for my songs. I really hope to live up to their incredible standards.” 

“In Hope Our Stars Align” includes a string of glorious big-hearted singles including “Bullet Proof”, “Winter Song,” “Hairpin Bends,” “Beautiful Losers,” “Come Alive,” “Turn On Your Radio” and “Knives (Heavy Metal Rain)” – all of which have lit up the Irish airwaves with glistening choruses, addictive riffs, and a rare contemplative soulfulness.

 “Songwriting has always been an elusive mystery to me, but I finally broke the code on Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday. I decided that, rather than murdering one of his songs, I would honour the occasion by trying to finally crack the songwriting code. Something told me to drop the register of my voice, and I found my voice in every sense of the word and wrote my first complete song Black Satellite. I wrote around twenty songs over the following eighteen months, and I have no doubt that being surrounded by so many amazing musicians and so many great people in the music and arts industry in Ireland has resulted in an osmosis of some kind that has led to this amazing creative breakthrough for me.”

Reviews:
"Bren's voice is like a hug" - Damien Dempsey
“One of the albums of the year” Tom Dunne, Newstalk
 "A stone-cold classic." Ralph McLean, BBC Radio Ulster
"Magnificent…beautiful production." Philip King, South Wind Blows
 "Gorgeous stuff." Lillian Smith, RTE Radio 1
“An extraordinary 12-track love letter to life, family and music” Hot Press

Crash Ensemble is Ireland’s leading new music ensemble; a group of world-class musicians who play the most adventurous, ground-breaking music of today. 

Presented by MUSICTOWN
Sponsored by Dublin City Council