Cannonball
I absolutely love discovering new music and that is certainly the case with Carl Burgess’ latest album, Cannonball. Produced by Sean Lyons, it is full of beautiful harmonies, gorgeous folk tinged guitar melodies and amazing vocals. Such a treat to behold. This LP is well and truly overdue. Carl Burgess hasn’t released anything in eight years. Carl, perhaps best known for his work on The Calais Sessions, the dynamic project which set out to raise awareness of the plight of the immigrants living in the notorious Jungle camp in Calais. Setting up a studio in the camps and whilst living and working there as a volunteer, Carl along with cellist Vanessa Lucas-Smith and her Allegri Quartet recorded withof musicians living in the camp. The project raised thousands of pounds through sales of the LP and live concerts.
The album boasts an incredible line up of musicians, including Sean Lyons, Liam Genockey, Kevin Powell, Dave Bronze and Steve Moreham. Cannonball is a glorious and beautiful return for Carl!
Opening up with ‘Lose You’ this is a beautiful piece, with exquisite guitar playing. Echoes of James Taylor at the beginning, it begins lamenting that the story teller doesn’t want to lose his love. Almost self-defeated, but when the drums kick in, it turns into something else entirely. A new hope and positivity. He will succeed in life and he will do it all for her. I absolutely love Carls voice as well, such a rich tone. This is perhaps the perfect love song.
Next up is ‘Sail’, beginning with four strummed chords on the acoustic guitar. The melody builds and resembles the waves on a long sea voyage. This song really does transport you somewhere else. Carl’s falsetto at the end is almost mythical and I love the distant electric guitar that seams to cascade through the air. ‘The Hill’ is up next and in contrast to the first two tracks, which were so laid back they were almost horizontal, this starts with such urgency. The energetic drums kick in and the whole song has a positive determination about it.
The album continues, Sean Lyons’ lead guitar work is captivating adding just a tiny bit of extra grit to the album and that combined with Carls vocal depth is perfect. ‘Angeline’ is a stunning track, I can hear bits of Johnny Cash coming through in this one. The album title track is absolutely gorgeous too. Finger picked guitar and stunning strings provided by Steve Moreham. The lyrics are stunning on Cannonball, this song is an absolute masterclass in song writing.
What a stunning album, but I think my album highlight comes towards the end of the album, the penultimate track, ‘On The Bridge’ is a real country rockabilly foot stomper, complete with slide guitar. This is a track I would love to see live. I can imagine this being played at a real country hoedown! The track builds and builds and crescendo’s to the end. Then, another complete contrast, the final track, ‘Waterfall’ – the calm after the storm of the raucous foot stomper that came before. This is complete serenity. Absolutely beautiful.
Carl Burgess has presented an amazing collection of songs. This album is stunningly beautiful and is just the kind of album we need in these turbulent times, to raise our spirits and deliver hope to us all. Listen to this, you won’t regret it!
The album is available to purchase on Bandcamp or through Apple Music from Friday 25th September
Released By: Shaker Records
Release Date: 25th September 2020
