The Pleasures are Catherine Britt and Lachlan Bryan, both critically acclaimed, award-winning performers and songwriters. Together they bring their experience and humanity to the union, and two of the most honest and character-filled voices you’ll hear this or any other year.
It’s a collaboration that began in 2022 with a few late-night texts and quickly spiraled into a feverish week of writing and recording in Melbourne, where the pair would dream up songs into the early hours, then head to the studio next morning to lay them down.
The Pleasures get a little raucous, dirty and blues-inspired, interrupted by delicate moments of sublime country-folk. They might get called a country band, but there’s as much Jack White influence here as there is George Jones (in fact there’s plenty of both), alongside the plethora of mythologised girl-boy country acts with whom they will inevitably draw comparison.
The union between Britt and Bryan was destined to turn heads.
Having released three singles in the Australian market so far, The Beginning of the End, Every Story Has Two Sides and Paranoid, The Pleasures showcased a cocktail of styles indicative of what their debut album promised and was wonderfully supported around the country.
Their debut album ‘The Beginning of the End’ dropped on August 4, 2023, picking up a lot of love, with a healthy start on US radio. The release popped into the Americana Album Chart, Most Added List and ‘Bubblin Up’ list, after only two weeks and went on to stay in the Americana Album Chart for three months.
Australian radio came supporting again with ABC Country making it their FEATURE ALBUM (Aug 11) alongside features for the record across PBS, Triple R, 2SER, Apple’s Home Page, CountryTown, Spotify playlists, live spots in the studio across ABC Radio, Radio National, Double J and more. The Pleasures made their ARIA debut at #2 (Australian County Albums ) #1 on the AIR Chart.
“Lachlan and I have always clicked in life and in song” explains Catherine, “and we’ve always had an unspoken understanding and respect for one another. These songs came so easy – they flowed out of us like a raging stream. I just want more honest, real music in the world, and I couldn’t think of a better person to make it with!”
The songs themselves are heavy and satisfying in the way classic country and Americana should be, augmented by sparse but impactful production. Themes of recklessness abound drawn straight from the life experiences.
“I don’t think I know anyone else who feels and understands country music the way Catherine does”, says Lachlan. “She sounds authentic because she is authentic. When she opens her mouth and sings you can hear the neon lights buzzing, you can taste the tequila and you can barely see for the cloud of smoke. It’s all that stuff that people try and fake – they try and put in on – but it’s like she was just born with it”.
The Pleasures have now secured brilliant reviews and radio success in the USA, Australia, and the UK. They have toured in the US /UK to a rapturous reception.
The band has already performed at a bunch of major festivals and recently performed at the Golden Guitar Awards in Australia where they were nominated for Best Group and Best Alt Country Album awards.
In February they toured in the US again around their showcases at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City and recorded new material in Nashville with Colin Linden producing and John Davis and Mike Stankiewicz at the helm, with new music due to be released in the US/UK Summer of 2024.
