"Wake up," she whispers on "Future," the first track on the album. Emulating the calls of Kate Bush, Gena Rose Bruce begins Deep Is The Way by awakening from her own deep sleep to begin searching for "spirit and hope." Bruce's second full-length project, Deep Is The Way marks a clear maturation since 2019’s Can’t Make You Love Me; in both sound and voice. Each track presents a step closer towards ‘the future’ Bruce hopes to find, even to the point of self-destruction on the track "Destroy Myself," kitted out with driving grunge guitars.
Her lyrics, though simple and understated, provide a peek into Bruce’s inner conflicts surrounding love, grief, disappointment, and pandemics; and indeed, there is "some kind of charm to my desperation", as she sings on "Misery and Misfortune," exploring these topics gracefully whilst replicating the feeling of post-pandemic adjustment.
These feelings culminate on the title track, a duet with American singer-songwriter, Bill Callahan, where the two try “see through the heavy fog” that lays over the horizon. It’s made all the more poignant in light of their collaborative process – texting lyrics back and forth as Bruce remained in her native Australia during the making of the album. A testament to Bruce’s vocal range, the track showcases the artists’ respective talents, before coming together in the chorus, a reflection of the rest of the world coming together after time spent apart.
Although Bruce may have reached a point of internal resolution here, this epiphany fails to be presented in the album’s production choices. The eighties inspired "Foolishly In Love" comes close – drenched in arpeggiated synths, as well as The Zombies-esque "I’d Rather Be A Dreamer," but ultimately most of the tracks remain neatly confined in baroque pop arrangements and indie conventions.
It’s clear Bruce makes strong foundations with Deep that will fortify her career as she goes on to bigger and better things. She leaves us with "Captive," a track that finally provides adequate space for Bruce’s words to get through. “I will not go silently / I will fight,” she declares – a convincing prediction for what no doubt lies ahead for Bruce in the years to come.
