Connecting to music always came easy for Teri Bracken, the force behind the indie-pop band Brontë Fall. 

Growing up in Chicago, Bracken said she heard singing around her house from a young age. 

“I have always loved music from the time I was born,” Bracken said. 

Bracken learned that music was more than just something she loved when she joined an orchestra during high school.

She went to college at Berklee School of Music with an understanding that she was going to follow her musical passions and further explored her talents, she said.

“All of the musical parts of me could flourish, not just classical music,” Bracken said. 

Bracken moved to Chicago after school, where she started a band with her best friend. This band became Brontë Fall. 

The name Brontë Fall was inspired by the Brontë sisters. Bracken said she remembers that they were rejected at first by publishers because they were women, so they changed their names to male pseudonyms to be accepted by society. 

While reading through Emily Brontë’s “Fall Leaves Fall” poem, Bracken said she fell in love with the metaphor of finding beauty in the winter seasons. 

“Music for me is finding the silver lining constantly through life,” Bracken said. 

“Winter,” Brontë Fall’s newest album, will be released March 4.

Bracken originally wrote this album during 2020, which she said was a difficult time for her. At the time, she was going through a breakup, family loss, the pandemic and her career felt like it was coming to a pause.

Bracken said she met up with a friend who was also a producer, and together they created lots of sad songs.

“I really liked how organic this was,” Bracken said of her time producing her newest album.

“Winter” allowed the band to focus on finding beauty and hope throughout the dark times of 2020, Bracken said. She describes the album as raw and emotional.

An early-released track off of Brontë Fall’s “Winter” album is “Beyond the Rain.” This single tells the story of Bracken’s traumatic experience of a tornado taking over her Nashville home right before the pandemic.

“‘Beyond the Rain’ is like a ‘Wizard of Oz’ take with a tornado, but you’re waking up in the crazy pandemic world,” Bracken said. 

Bracken said her musical inspirations consist of singer-songwriters like John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Jason Isbell and Lake Street Dive.

“My musical inspirations float between pop singer-songwriters and some really cool Americana people,” Bracken said. 

Over the years, Bracken said she’s learned to trust herself and be more patient as a songwriter. 

“It’s funny,” Bracken said. “When you first start out you want to get all your feelings out into song. Now, I’m more patient and OK knowing that everything doesn’t have to fit into one song. It’s fun to get better in your writing.”

Along with the album release, Brontë Fall has a three-week tour coming up, which Bracken said she’s looking forward to. 

“I can’t wait to sit down and carve out some new songs,” Bracken said. 

Bracken previously played at a Sofar Sounds show in Champaign, and she said she’s looking forward to performing here once again. 

Brontë Fall will perform as a trio at the Rose Bowl Tavern in Urbana Thursday at 8 p.m., and their newest album will be released March 4.

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