Album Review by Jolene Rheault
Time is slippery. It stretches, loops, and disappears when we aren’t looking. Natalie Brooke’s new album, Measured in Moments, out October 10, 2025, captures that paradox in dazzling color. Through 11 tracks of vivid lyricism, textured synths, and cinematic keys, Brooke invites us to linger inside the fleeting — to hold on, even as everything moves.
In her liner notes, Brooke writes, “I find myself trying to let go of time’s passing, trying to hold on to the special and fleeting moments.” It’s a confession that threads through the record’s DNA. Measured in Moments isn’t just an album; it’s a dialogue between memory and motion. Brooke calls time both “beautiful and painful,” and she captures that tension across songs that shimmer, ache, and pulse with humanity.
Recorded at Mystery Ton Studios between February and April 2025, the album was produced, mixed, and mastered by Kenny Eaton, who also contributes percussion throughout. The soundscape is rich and balanced — each note feels deliberate, yet alive, as though the record itself is breathing.
Brooke’s self-awareness is sharpest in “Lucky Enough,” a song she says was inspired by a sunset drive down I-70 — “the most illustrative” of what time feels like to her. The lyrics glow with wistfulness:
“Lucky enough to see a single evening where the sun sets like this / Right now the minutes go slow.”
It’s a track that perfectly encapsulates Brooke’s emotional range: gratitude tangled with melancholy, presence intertwined with loss.
Meanwhile, “Nostalgia Brings a Special Type of Pain” digs deeper into the weight of memory — a kind of emotional archaeology. Its refrain echoes:
“Nostalgia brings a special type of pain, type of pain.”
The repetition becomes mantra-like, as if Brooke is reminding herself that to look back is both to remember and to reopen old wounds.
Then there’s “Sometimes” (feat. Cris Jacobs) — the record’s magnetic centerpiece. Built around the refrain “Sometimes I’m better off runnin’,” it’s impossibly catchy, yet emotionally complex. Jacobs, the Baltimore-based roots singer-songwriter known for his soulful introspection, lends both grit and grace to the track. His presence grounds Brooke’s ethereal production with the texture of lived experience.
Jacobs’ guitar solo hums with the same earthy warmth that defines his solo work, while Brooke’s voice soars — tender but unyielding. The blend is pure alchemy: a meeting of heart and craft. It’s the kind of song you’ll hum unconsciously for days, the melody tugging at the edges of your memory like déjà vu.
Measured in Moments features a tight ensemble of collaborators:
- Natalie Brooke – keys, synth, and vocals
- Nester – bass and co-writer of “Droplets”
- Luke Walker – guitar
- Nathan Shulkin – drums and percussion
- Kenny Eaton – percussion and production
- Becky – backing vocals on “Sometimes”
- Cris Jacobs – guest feature on “Sometimes”
The chemistry between them is palpable. Brooke’s compositions feel spontaneous yet refined — “Water for People,” she explains, was written in a single, cosmic 40-minute burst of inspiration. Every player seems tuned to that same wavelength, honoring the album’s recurring motif of time folding in on itself.
The album closes with “Prelude to Forever” and “Forever, Forever,” the latter co-written by Mike Candela. It’s an ending that doesn’t feel final — instead, it circles back, like the passage of time itself. The piano lingers, the echoes fade, and we’re left in suspension — grateful for the moment, yet aware it’s already gone.
Brooke’s writing is as introspective as it is universal. Measured in Moments captures what it feels like to exist between presence and nostalgia — to be “lucky enough,” as she says, to notice.
The album’s production gleams, the performances are intimate, and the lyrics are both grounded and transcendental. If Measured in Moments were a photograph, it would be one caught just before the light fades — soft, bittersweet, impossibly beautiful.
Natalie Brooke hasn’t just measured moments here — she’s stretched them into forever.
Credits:
Recorded at Mystery Ton Studios | Produced by Kenny Eaton | Vinyl pressed by Pour House Pressing (Raleigh, NC) | Album photos by Natalie Brooke, Nester & Jason Herman | Layout by Shayne Hiles | Special thanks to Kris Howland, Erik Meyers & Heady Wax Fiends.
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