Sam Burton: Dear Departed review – timeless, low-key charm

Sam Burton has come full circle since his 2020 debut, I Can Go With You – leaving his adopted home town of Los Angeles, first for his Utah roots and then some itinerant California wandering, before finding himself settled in LA again. His travels informed the songs he wrote while he was away, not least the hypnotic I Don’t Blame You’s opening (“Well, I feel like a sail when I’m looking around/ For some wind to move me”) and the self-explanatory A Place to Stay. On his return, he hooked up with producer Jonathan Wilson for this second album.

As with Wilson’s work for Father John Misty and Angel Olsen – and, indeed, his own solo oeuvre – there’s a timeless lushness to the sound of Dear Departed. It’s an album that draws heavily on the influence of 1960s and 70s singer-songwriters – think Harry Nilsson, Glen Campbell and Jackson Browne. Songs develop at a leisurely pace, subtly deployed strings and piano very much foregrounding Burton’s gentle, ruminative, slightly mournful vocals. There’s a low-key charm throughout – most notably on Maria – but while these songs frequently smoulder, they rarely ignite.