tim burgess - 'white'

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His solo album 'Oh No I Love You' has grown on me so much over time. There's an innocence to it that is quite endearing.

tim burgess - 'oh men (the other two remix)'

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'The Other Two' refers to Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert from New Order. I haven't heard much from them of late but they've teamed up with Tim Burgess to produce this rather bubbly little remix. 

I can't stream it so you will have to go to the Soundcloud website here to listen to it: https://soundcloud.com/timoburgers/tim-burgess-oh-men-the-other-two-remix

tim burgess - 'tobacco fields'

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This is possibly my favourite track of his new album and very poignant it is too. You can tell that this has Kurt Wagner writ large across this too. It's a beautiful ballad that just about works with Burgess's thin voice (see my previous review of the album for more comments) but I love the Leonard Cohen-esque touch with the backing singers taking the harmonies over a slow piano.  Talking of the piano it does, with the English accent to accompany it remind me of Spiritualised at their most melancholy. I'm not sure that Burgess has it within him to carry this off live but with a lot of post-production, it sounds fantastic. I'd be interested to hear Wagner's take on this song too.

tim burgess - 'oh no, i love you'

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This is certainly a departure for Tim Burgess with the lyrics written by Kurt Wagner of Lambchop fame and by the sounds of it, a big hand in the music too with a lot of the production being done in Wagner's hometown of Nashville. It has all the hallmarks of a Wagner album but as Burgess has said with the North-West England accent provided with the vocals. Apparently, the deal was struck to work on a collaboration over ten years ago and it's taken this long for both parties to finalise it all.

I've read a fair few reviews and they've swung from outright contempt and plenty of sideswipes at his barnet (n.b. English slang for haircut) to adulation. I think I'm firmly in the 'love it' camp. It's quite dark in places with almost a Cohen-esque path together with female singers and at other times it's firmly on the road to Americana.  Wagner's lyrics are always uplifting even when the music isn't and Burgess's slightly thin voice does work well but I think it's probably a happy coincidence as he does struggle with the higher notes. The highlight for me is the very melancholy 'Tobacco Fields' and the juxtaposition of a Greater Manchester accent and the Deep South references give rise to a thing of beauty.

I've dug out a couple of interesting snippets for you. The first is the official video to 'White' and the second, a remix of the previously mentioned 'Tobacco Fields'.