Richard Burke
Richard Burke previously screamed his way through seven years of Indie rock mayhem with the wonderfully shambolic Starries before deciding that his delicate, lusty vocal chords were much better suited to the comparatively quieter world of off-kilter folk.
Burke’s forthcoming debut album, “An Ocean Full Of Broken Stars”, clocks in at just under 30 minutes and is simply a magical, mesmerising collection of songs. Listeners to the album will immediately be drawn to the track “Brown Eyes, Dark Hair” and his stunning, highly personal take on Yazoo’s “Only You”.
Throughout the record and at his live shows, Burke consistently wraps his words and melodies around musical arrangements that would fall flat in the hands of less dextrous vocalists. Whilst Indie Rock mourns his loss, then, Off-Kilter Folk can rejoice as he melds the fluent guitar style of Jose Gonzalez to the tunefulness of Teenage Fanclub, all the while incorporating his wonderfully quirky and often heart-wrenching lyrics.
To paraphrase the shy, often self-deprecating man himself, some people just think he’s shit. A more generous, objective observer would suggest that such people merely fail to see his worth. For the record, we think the naysayers are misguided fools.
“An Ocean Full Of Broken Stars”, will be released on Commercially Inviable in August 2011
