Don’t Look Down
CEN/The Orchard, 2023
9/10
The (mostly) Boston folk outfit The Burnt Pines return with a sophomore album, where themes of divorce, escapism and redemption are fleshed out with intimacy, melody and plenty of acoustic and electric layers.
“Bring Out Your Book” starts the listen with warm harmonica from Aaron Flanders, as Luis Barros’ fluid drumming helps cultivate a cozy, folky landscape, and “Don’t Look Down” follows with a driving, roots-rocker that’s playful amid Migual Sá Pessoa’s skilled keys.
Approaching the middle, “What Did You Come Back For?” enters darker territory with its emotive acoustic guitar, strategic double bass from Dan Fox and powerful singing, while “The Ghost Living In My Beer” hints of jazz and pop thanks to Joe Cunningham’s well timed tenor sax and upbeat melodies.
Close to the end, “Daytime TV” flows with a sublime dreaminess with Kris Skovmand’s poetic singing front and center, and “Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of The New Day)” exits with a bright and dynamic approach to the Jethro Tull classic.
The core of the band, Skovmand, Flanders and Pessoa, are based in both the United States and Portugal, and they emit a multi-cultured presence that is very quickly making The Burnt Pines one of the most enjoyable modern folk bands that exists today.
Travels well with: Afton Wolfe- Twenty-Three; Sam Robbins- Bigger Than In Between