The Burnt Pines’ latest single is all about the complicated relationship we have with alcohol. It blurs our thinking and influences our decisions, getting in the way of our interactions with others as highlighted in the lines: “And you may ask me with a sympathetic voice, // How is it I came to here? // I’d tell you but I cannot hear you from the noise, // Of the ghost living in my beer.” An insistent strum and Fernando Huergo’s pulsing bass drive on the song – it’s upbeat, uptempo and given real atmosphere by Joe Cunningham’s tenor saxophone and layers of piano, keys and body percussion from Miguel Sá Pessoa.
Kris Skovmand, the lyricist and vocalist, says of the song: “I’ve had a history with alcohol, and it has had an impact on my relationships. Most of the time it has had to do with my need to escape into something that was ideal and fantastical just to get through the monotony of daily life and the pressures that are presented in raising kids, working etc. I see this song as a love letter to alcohol, taking into account also some of the more detrimental effects, but also throwing caution to the wind. I may have had too much to drink the night this was written.” Skovmand also directed the video. He recalls: “My love letter to alcohol and drinking. It’s a very ambiguous love affair to say the least. We went to Old Vic, my favorite pub in Lisbon, and let the night and the chaos take us wherever it wanted to. It was all very free and romantic until we woke up the next morning. Without knowing it, we had lived out in real-life what the song only talks about. The ghost that lives in our beers had made its spirit known!”
The Burnt Pines combine an international musical heritage to create their own intriguing sonic blend. The key band members are a trio comprising an American instrumentalist and songwriter, a Danish vocalist and a Portuguese-born keyboard player, who first came together in a Lisbon recording studio back in 2018. ‘The Ghost Living in My Beer’ is taken from the band’s forthcoming second album, ‘Don’t Look Down’, which is due for release on 3rd February 2023. This is the follow-up to their excellent self-titled debut, which received an impressive 8/10 review here on AUK. The new album is definitely one to look out for and you can check out this new video while you wait. Enjoy.
