The songwriter sends room-warm folk and country echoes out of Laurel Canyon.
When a debut called I CAN GO WITH YOU by a certain Sam Burton was released on the small (and primarily committed to archiving buried treasures) US label Tompkins Square Records in October 2020, hardly anyone in this country noticed. It’s a pity really, because as heartbroken and housewarming as the newcomer from Los Angeles from Utah follows in the footsteps of Roy Orbison, Harry Nilsson, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake, you could succumb to these eleven profound songs in no time at all.
A label change and a European tour with Weyes Blood later, things look very different. Produced by the famous retro specialist Jonathan Wilson, who once also made a decisive contribution to the reinvention of Josh Tillman as Father John Misty, Burton’s songs on DEAR DEPARTED now sound even creamier, more somnambulist and more overhung with strings than before.
The fact that as a songwriter he doesn’t always reach the level of brilliance of the debut can be filed away as whining on a high level, because no one from Laurel Canyon will send more melodious greetings to the said deceased masters this pop year.