Barzin
To Live Alone In That Long Summer
- Record Label
- Monotreme
About this item
Canadian songwriter Barzin will release his fourth full-length album, To Live Alone In That Long Summer, on February 24th, 2014 on Monotreme Records. His past work has won acclaim from NPR Music “Song of The Day”,Salon.com, Stereogum, Uncut, Exclaim!, and La Blogotheque among others. To Live Alone... follows his well-received 2009 album Notes To An Absent Lover, praised by Mojo Magazine as “Americana Album of The Month”.
To Live Alone In That Long Summer explores such themes as loneliness, intimacy, and connection between strangers. Modern life in the fast paced environment of the city provides the backdrop to the narrative of these songs. Whilst still embracing a relatively minimalist aesthetic, the songs alternate between up and down-tempo, with arrangements that envelope the listener like the warm glow of fading daylight. “All the While”, one of the highlights of the album, is at once both elegiac and hopeful, with its bright guitar and brisk tempo underpinned by mournful strings and Barzin’s soft, melancholy vocals. The dark, percussive “In The Dark You Can Love This Place” lends an exotic nocturnal feel with its winding woodwinds. Another standout track, “Fake It ‘til You Make It, is a lush, sweeping cinematic pop number. Barzin has recently pursued projects outside his own songwriting, including assisting in producing his compatriots Memoryhouse’s recent album, The Slideshow Effect (Subpop Records). He has also written a book of poems entitled, "Something I Have Not Done Is Following Me."