Burness, Tim: Interconnected

UK musician Tim Burness has been around for a number of years now but I have only recently heard his work, more specifically his latest effort titled Interconnected. And that’s a shame because this has been another one of those fantastic discoveries that come along every once and a while.

The artist started playing in bands in the late ‘70s in the London area and released his first solo album Burnessence in 1983. He has been involved in a number of bands and projects and even took singing lessons to help is cause. He released Whose Dream Are You Living? in 2015 and has followed it up with the aforementioned Interconnected.

The album mixes pop and progressive rock in equal doses, intertwined to create quite an intoxicating mixture. The first track “Electric Energy� is a new wave style upbeat tune reminding me a little of The Human League or Ultravox, especially the shimmering keyboards. It also has a great hook. “I Am Afraid� is filled with interesting keyboard and guitar textures and the vocals remind me of Pendragon’s Nick Barrett. Its driving beat and heavy slicing guitar combined with its take on modern progressive rock recalls The Mute Gods. A sweeping piano intro begins “Freedom� with its slightly somber mood. The piano courses through its entire length as heavier guitar rhythms add a bit of heavy to what is a very textural and moody sound. In contrast, “Dear Stranger� is an upbeat poppy track with the quirkiness of XTC. Another catchy melody to sink your teeth into. Deep bass tones and cool keyboards and percussion, with hints of dissonance highlight the intriguing “This Is The Space�. Again XTC comes to mind. Some well-placed heavier riffage adds another element to the somewhat sparser arrangement. The song’s quirkiness is completely contagious, including the vocals. The slowly evolving “Making It Up� is another proggy new wave-ish slice of pop music. Great use of guitars and keyboards to create the mood. “Ants� is perhaps my favourite track, a weird and delicious mixture of moody ambient textures, distorted vocals and obtuse heaviness. Again The Mute Gods is perhaps the closest reference I can think of.

I have come to the conclusion Burness should be a household name in both pop and progressive rock. If you enjoy XTC, The Mute Gods, Cosmograf and intelligent pop music in general with more than the occasional proggy twist you absolutely need to give this a listen. I really need to check out Burness’ back catalogue to hear what I’ve been missing.

Released on the artist’s own label ‘An Expanding Consciousness’.

Track Listing:
1. Electric Energy
2. I Am Afraid (Saturn Conjunct Pluto)
3. Freedom
4. Dear Stranger
5. This Is The Space
6. A Shorter Space
7. Making It Up
8. Still Mumbling
9. Ants
10. Beautiful World
11. One More Time

Added: February 9th 2019
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 2815
Language: english

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