T-BONE BURNETT once said: “If Jesus is the light of the world, there are two kinds of songs you can write. You can write songs about the light, or you can write songs about what you can see from the light.” He opted for the latter. Burnett is a believer working in the music business who writes in a deeply thoughtful and intelligent manner about matters of faith. He remarked to The New York Times in 2019: “Art has to be irresistible. It can’t be pedantic or instruct or preach.”
He has a gift for satire (witness “Humans from Earth” on the album The Criminal Under My Own Hat) and name-checks C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton as inspiration for his work. Apart from his many solo albums, he has written soundtracks, such as the one for the 2000 Coen Brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (which won a Grammy for Album of the Year). He became famous as a producer, working with the likes of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elton John, and Ringo Starr and Elvis Costello (among many others). His music ranges from rock and blues through to country and Americana.
Having bought some new guitars to finish work on the final record in his The Invisible Light trilogy, he decided instead to start a brand new record, which became The Other Side. It was finished in three weeks. Musically, it is similar in style to Burnett’s 1986 country album T-Bone Burnett, with collaborations from Roseanne Cash, Lucius and Weyes Blood. Lyrically, his topics drift from love and loss to identity and the human condition.
“The Pain of Love” explores our divine nature: “We are like gods But we are not gods we can give thanks We can I me mine We can rob a bank We can build a shrine.” “Everything and Nothing” plays with paradox: “Everyone wants to be free But no one can pay the price Everyone wants to be heard When no one has asked for advice.” Burnett is at his best when he is subtle, teasing listeners to work things out for themselves and avoiding the easy answers. By comparison, “He Came Down” is his most direct song, although the protagonist is unnamed: “When his lover was lost in hell He came down He liberated the mademoiselle He came down . . . After he set the prisoners free After they hung him from a tree Nothing was as it used to be He came down.”
Burnett continues to produce thought-provoking songs that expose the contradictions of life and offer something beyond our senses. This record is yet another fine example of his craft.
The Other Side is released by Verve Records.
