The Burnt Pines

When The Burnt Pines released their eponymous debut album in 2021, among the accolades the LP earned was spending 11 weeks on the AMA/CDX Top 50 Americana Album Chart, and also a Top 10 spot on the Roots Music Report’s Best Albums of 2021 year-end list. Celebrated as “sublime… an album flush with a delicate folk rock glow, a quiet caress one might find while nestled by a fire on a chilly winter’s night” (Goldmine), the critical and commercial success of their debut has paved the way for Don’t Look Down, the brilliant second album from the polycultural, globe-spanning outfit. While the band’s unique circumstances – the trio’s core lineup consists of members based in both the United States and Portugal – were already challenging enough, a global pandemic put their debut album’s release on hold while the group figured out how best to proceed. But, as they have so skillfully and beautifully demonstrated in both logistics and craft, the challenges, both professional and deeply personal, were met with perseverance and a stunning burst of musical creativity, paving the way for Don’t Look Down. Charting intensely intimate and yet universal subjects, the new album explores such themes as divorce, escapism and redemption, weaving compelling tales alluding to ghosts and aliens, and all the while retaining a sense of hope and peace in trying times through its gentle, mesmerizing melodies and instrumental artistry. Don’t Look Down is a rare, remarkable achievement: a sophomore album that outshines its glistening predecessor.

Consisting of 11 original tracks and closing with an exuberant take on the Jethro Tull classic, “Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day),” the bulk of Don’t Look Down’s lyrics were penned by Kris Skovmand, The Burnt Pines’ Danish-born lead singer, who was separated, and eventually divorced, during the process of writing and recording the album. Skovmand, also an accomplished filmmaker, is the father of four sons, who make memorable appearances in the  videos the singer shot to accompany songs from the record. From the opening cut, the spritely “Bring Out Your Book,” to the propulsive title track “Don’t Look Down” and fizzy Jazz-tinged Pop of “The Ghost Living in My Beer,” through tunes shaded with darker tones, such as “What Did You Come Back For?” and the heart-rending “Daytime TV,” Skovmand’s ethereal vocals and self-assured approach to his subject matter is distinguished by refreshing candor, marked throughout by, as guitarist Aaron Flanders often characterizes them, the singer’s “achingly gorgeous” vocals.

“Kris doesn't generally write quirky, ‘happy’ songs,” says Flanders. “I would say that ‘Welcome Home!,’ on this new album [which addresses the aforementioned aliens in its lyrics], is his sort of quirkiest, happiest, kind of more happy-go-lucky song. But Kris was dealing with a fair amount of pain in his life, and difficulties throughout both albums. He was heading towards the end of his marriage, struggling at first to hold it together. His lyrics have a certain beauty to them just as words. But there's also an ache, an undeniable pain, when you read into them and understand the narrative and the images that he’s singing about. Beyond that, I think his lyrics also bring in other subject matter related to the world outside of his own pain.”

The album also spotlights Flanders as songwriter on two cuts: “Pushing On,” which he wrote as a message of encouragement for his son, and the politically charged “In From the Outside,” which dates from 2016 and was penned not long after the 2016 presidential election.

A multicultural band anchored by three musicians who first came together at a Lisbon recording studio in the summer of 2018, The Burnt Pines not only quickly coalesced musically but also met the staggering challenges of intercontinental recording, resulting in their self-titled debut, highlighted by gorgeously textured Folk-Pop melodies and penetrating lyrics. With lead vocals by Skovmand, veteran instrumentalist and arranger Flanders on guitar and banjo and acclaimed piano and keyboard player and arranger Miguel Sá Pessoa, Don’t Look Down also features Fernando Huergo on 5-string electric bass, and Luis Barros on drums and percussion. Dan Fox plays upright bass on one song, and Erica Leigh and Mariana Lebre Torres sing background vocals on one song each.

Flanders, who was born in Highland Park, Illinois, studied at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, where he met Sá Pessoa, who was born and raised in Lisbon. A Classical piano student at the Lisbon Conservatory, Sá Pessoa’s musical interests soon shifted to Jazz and he earned a full scholarship to Berklee College. Sá Pessoa also worked as a producer, arranger and engineer with several highly successful Pop musicians in Boston, before moving back to Portugal and opening a recording studio in Lisbon’s hip Bairro Alto neighborhood. Skovmand, also an accomplished filmmaker, used those skills to create intimate music videos for this album’s opening track, “Bring Out Your Book,” as well as for the album’s title track, “Don’t Look Down,” and two other music videos for the songs “The Ghost Living In My Beer” and “What Did You Come Back For?”. A couple of the videos include appearances from his young sons, emphasizing both the D-I-Y spirit and personal touches he brings to both his filmmaking and songwriting craft.

The Burnt Pines’ thrilling take on Jethro Tull’s “Skating Away,” closes the album, and was chosen, Flanders says, because it is, “My favorite Pop song of all time by any artist. I just think Ian Anderson wrote a gem of a perfect song there. Hardly anyone ever covers Jethro Tull because of Ian Anderson's incredible voice. I had always loved that song so much and had always wanted to cover it. My main concern, which I hope we achieved, was that we did the song justice.”

As gems go, The Burnt Pines’ Don’t Look Down is itself a veritable treasure trove, mined in musical harmony, etched in heartache, but shimmering with strength, resilience and hope.

Awards

- 11 weeks on the AMA/CDX Top 50 Americana Album Chart.

- Top 10 spot on the Roots Music Report’s Best Albums of 2021 year-end list.

Gear

Kris Skovmand – vocals.
Aaron Flanders – acoustic and electric guitars, banjo.
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards.
Fernando Huergo – bass.
Luis Barros – drums.