Old-time country with dark and passionate words given a modern update with electronica.
Owen Lake is the alter ego of Jeff Snyder, Director of Electronic Music at Princeton, and Bury Deep My Heart is his second album after 2018’s The Best of Your Lies. Whereas this had some covers, the tracks on Bury Deep My Heart were all written by Lake and fiddle player Anica Mrose Rissi. It is best described as electro-country, where the rather traditional old-time country tracks have electronica added, from instruments such as a drum machine, a synth, or Snyder’s own Electrosteel and Electrobass inventions.
The songs on here would stand up very well just as country music. There are some great tunes, and the emotional words on affairs of the heart are engaging and stirring. The electronica is a bit of a double-edged sword. It doesn’t always make the songs a more enjoyable listen and can sound a little out of kilter with the country music, but does make them more interesting. It brings the music up to date, gives it a modern feel, and, without it, the songs would sound a little retro and lacking in originality. It works best on Over You, where the singer has finally got over the deep hurt of a split. Here, electronica has a little country added in the shape of steel guitar, rather than the other way around. It could almost be a Pet Shop Boys hit, and Lake actually has a voice like Neil Tennant’s on it.
The opener Cheat To Win also reminds you of the Pet Shop Boys, but with fiddle added. Here, the singer is urging infidelity to a woman using a card game as a metaphor. The cover of the album has Lake looking a bit like Chris Isaak, and there is a noir-like darkness, sadness and intensity to Lake’s lyrics, similar to Isaak. Throughout, the words tell of troubled but passionate relationships with emotion at the forefront rather than physical attraction. This is unlike the vast majority of americana today, but close to the lyrics of, say, Hank Williams and Gram Parsons. Because of this, the words chime very well with the fifties and sixties country here, with steel guitar and fiddle prominent.
Next up is Second Time Around with added vocals from Domenica Romagni in the classic country-duet style. These work very well here in the context of the words about a couple determined to make a go of it after an initial split, and also later on in the album. For example, on Let’s Go Back, the couple are looking fondly and wistfully at better times in their relationship.
There is a range of country styles on show. Maybe This Time, where the singer admits he can never leave his lover despite it all, sounds a little like The Louvin Brothers. Wrong About Worse is a bluegrass hoedown with fiddle and banjo, as is the instrumental Blawenburg Blomp. I Got on This Airplane (Just to Cry) has deep, twanging guitar, Chris Isaak-style. Bury Deep My Heart could have been in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
There is a little bit of rock here, too. What If It Goes Right? is a top-quality slice of southern rock, with words on the fear of love going wrong. King of This Bar is a classic country-rock tale of a barfly: “I’ve drunk every bottle/ Made every mistake”.
The strong music and words here, allied to the unusual combination of modern and retro styles, make this an enjoyable and memorable album.
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