Barzin 'Notes To An Absent Lover'

The first thing I noticed about this album, before playing it, was that there were a couple of song titles that seemed to reference Dylan titles. There's a song called 'Queen Jane' and one called 'Words Tangled In Blue'. The latter seems appropriate because in many ways this record sounds like an alt.country 'Blood On The Tracks'.

Barzin is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has escaped my attention until now. Many of his recordings have been completely solo but here he is joined by various helpers including one of the Great Lake Swimmers. The title is certainly not misleading, this is a break-up album with 9 songs reflecting on a lost love. Lyrically it sounds like a Trembling Blue Stars album, musically it is more like Tindersticks or The National's more mellow moments.

The arrangements are subtle, dignified and pleasing on the ear. Lots of strings, pedal steel and banjo appear, complementing the low-key guitar and drums, Barzin has a strong, deep voice and sings his melancholic songs well, especially the mournful opener 'Nobody Told Me' and the wsitful 'Soft Summer Girls'. The only difficulty I had with the album is that, while the songs are almost all short, beautifully arranged and performed, the mournful tone remains throughout with little or no sign of optimism or perspective and this becomes a bit wearing. On closer 'Dreams' Barzin sings "Come back home Suzanne" with such an air of desperation that you begin to wonder if this album is all a true story...although earlier on 'Queen Jane' he sits "with a broken guitar/ longing for Queen Jane to bring me a song". Suzanne or Jane then?

It doesn't really matter whether any of this is a true story or not though. Barzin does an excellent job of reflecting on the pain, loneliness and moments of poignancy that occur after a break-up. Its a pretty album, well crafted and performed that will be pleasurable listening for fans of bands such as Low, The National and Tindersticks. Barzin is obviously a Tindersticks fan, having covered 'Mistakes' in the past, and you can hear that in his songs, but you can only hear the melancholy and that is only a small part of Tindersticks' sound. With more variety and range of emotions this could have been a great album, rather than just a very good one. A good listen, but hard work.

7.3

['Notes To An Absent Lover' is out now on cd and lp on Monotreme Records']