Is this the most beautiful song from Dean Owens yet? I think it might be. ‘Sometime’ seems to float on a warm breeze of keys and sonorous bass that adds great depth to the song. Over these textures, Owens’ voice is wistful and intimate. It’s quite different from Owens’ recent material with Calexico, inhabiting a different emotional space that is equally compelling. The video, created by Ruth Barrie, features wide, open spaces and big skies to match Owens’ vocal.
‘Sometime’ is taken from the brand new album ‘Pictures’, which is a collaboration with GRAMMY-nominees Neilson Hubbard and Will Kimbrough. Recorded long-distance, with Owens in East Lothian and Kimbrough and Hubbard in East Nashville, the new songs are intimate reflections, written during the pandemic. Owens says of the album: “This album was such a joy to make, during some very difficult times. From East Lothian to East Nashville. It very much feels like a band record to me. Although we weren’t able to be together in the same room physically, I feel we were very much connected by our hearts and souls. I love working with Will and Neilson and I think that really comes across on this record.”
Neilson adds: “Dean’s voice hangs in the air like a bird flying majestically through the sky. It’s the thing that always stops me in my tracks after hearing one note. It’s the thing that makes me say ‘yes I’m in’ each time a new project is conjured. This new record is no different. Even making a record separated by an ocean and a virus was still something I wanted to be a part of. These songs are some of Dean’s most personal, and in my opinion, some of his best. The logistics were different. Dean recorded his vocal and acoustic in Scotland. Will Kimbrough and I were in Nashville and played to those tracks Dean sent for a few days in the studio. Dean zoomed in of course. It’s not our normal journey, but we were able to create the same energy and feel of those other records….. and find the unique soul for this record. It still has the personality, it still has the heart, it still has that voice. I’m thankful I’ve gotten to be a part of Dean’s music this last decade. This is a special record.”
It is, indeed, a special record. If you buy it here, you can help send Dean Owens to Folk Alliance International in Kansas City, where he has been invited to perform an official showcase alongside The Sinners.
The whole album is a joy. Buy it and let’s send Dean to Kansas City