Burnt Island
Music and Maths (Chaffinch)
Math rock? That was – still is – a musical genre easily recognised by its complexities of riffs, its meandering melodies, each tune forever taking unexpected turns when least expected.
The fact that the genre usually encompassed instrumental guitar music kind of draws that comparison to a close. But Burnt Island’s brand of lilting, gorgeously involved nu-folk does share something with that most muso of styles. Take ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again’ – on first listen it’s all over the place, with unexpected chord changes, shifts from major to minor and back, and a lush yet understated backdrop of strings and woodwind. Yet, the chorus “staring out to sea” is lodged in your subconscious as soon as the song ends, despite the fact that it’s not really a chorus at all and only crops up temporarily and tangentially. Singer Rodge Glass, as an author by trade, lends a literary feel to proceedings, weaving tales of melancholy, loss and hope, but these are almost a sideshow to the main event, the meticulously-woven arrangements. There’s the harmonies too, added by Amber Comerford and lending to the atmospheric, spacious arrangements. One which would sit nicely in the record collection alongside other masters of thoughtfully-crafted left-field pop – think Divine Comedy, Peter Hammill, Tindersticks. And there’s more than a nod to the Fence Collective, though the usual “stripped-back” description isn’t one that could apply here. “Intelligent” does apply, though like unlike maths, this music doesn’t need a degree to appreciate it.
Calum Craig
