Joshua Burnside weaves an extraordinary tale around tragic events on this new song taking from his upcoming EP of the same title which is due out November 18th. It’s an intriguing song that blends traditional folk with bubbling waves of electronica, interspersing sections of unaccompanied singing. Dreamlike is an apposite term to throw in at this point, as the song skips between clearly rendered scenes which cut across linear time, very much the way a dream can.
Joshua Burnside has this to say about the song “Belfast was redesigned for military, social and economic reasons during the late end of the century. It was rebuilt to suit a car-driving suburban middle class, which is why the centre is mostly encircled by car parks, empty buildings, empty land and motorways twisting and rising above or below you. It is sadly apt then, that people wishing to take their own life, often choose the Westlink as the place to do it, jumping from the bridges that cross it. This song is about someone at the end of their tether. And if you are feeling this way, then I dedicate this song to you.
I wrote this one after returning from the south of France. I’m normally glad to be home, but it was a particularly grey and blustery day. On days like this, the city can feel like a very bleak place, and so I wrote a very bleak song. But there is hope in it too, hope for a kinder society, a life that is softer on the soul. Belfast seldom resembles a French impressionist painting, but it is my home and it has its own beauty.”
