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Album Review: Dear Departed by Sam Burton 

Partisan Records

Release date: 14^th July, 2023

 

This is a beautiful sounding album.  The opening track firmly establishes the tenor for the ten-song collection.  The sound is of the deep sky, with the Sun’s summer glow thinning and the Evening Star piercing the heavens.  Are you at peace with your world?  Accepting of fate?  Ready to put your worries to bed? Well, this is an album for you.

Sam Burton reflects on being back home in Utah

on 'Dear Departed'

Imagery of Laurel Canyon is suggested in the publicity for the album.  Listening to this album evokes the cool kiss of Forest bathing and gradual emotional unravelling, an imagery that permeates every track.

 

The ten songs here are about moments of loss, regret, anxious anticipation of the imminently possible, loneliness, but ending on a hopeful note.

 

Maria is the standout song. Is that because it is slightly more upbeat? A voice that is encouraging and looks outward, rather than inward. It is a catchy and gentle love song. The piano work is bright and carries a delightful hook.

 

Maria draws pictures describing a town closing down for the night.  They decorate a simple love song.  This is a song that will get plenty of airtime and is likely to be covered by many artists for decades to come.  Anyone who has ever been named, or known a Maria won’t complain about hearing this number again and again, as they undoubtedly will once word gets out about what a delightful tune it is.

 

As for the rest of the album, it opens with Pale Blue Night, which sets a mournful tone for this collection and there is not much of a let up.  Empty Handed has some nifty string work that underlines the accomplished nature of the arrangements that accompany Burton’s restrained singing that reverberates pleasantly through each track.

The strings that accompany distant choral harmonies on I Don’t Blame You are particularly enchanting and it is here that the gentle touch of Jonathan Wilson’s production may be best felt.  There is a sonic depth to this album that does sustain repeated listening, for as long as you are feeling the vibe.

 

The album marks a turning point in the life of the song-writer, but there seems nothing celebratory, or energised about this departure point.  The line “I want to shock you into life” is delivered with such a lack of oomph, that can only be irony.  Ironic humour, can be easily misinterpreted. 

Burton has deliberately written an album that he says works with song-clichés, but song-structures have endured over centuries, without becoming clichés as such, for a reason. Here, the recognisable song structures provide satisfying foundations for Burton to dress with his chaptered reflections of life thus far.

Sam Barton: Photo by Boll 

In summary, and I hate to do this, (making a direct reference to a well-established performer), if you enjoy Father John Misty, but are in the mood for a set of well-rounded, shorter songs, that capture a pivotal life period, you will enjoy Dear Departed.

 

Burton is playing a few dates in the UK in the late-summer, it will be fascinating to see how such a rich album sound is conveyed live. 

 

SAM BURTON UK LIVE DATES

31/08/23 - 03/09/23: End of The Road Festival / Dorset / UK

12/09/23 - Gullivers / Manchester / UK

13/09/23 - St Pancras Old Church / London / UK

14/09/23 - Crofters Rights / Bristol / UK

 

 

Spencer Ide

 10^th July 2023