Dear Departed

Sam Burton’s upcoming 2nd album, "Dear Departed", was produced by Jonathan Wilson at his Topanga Canyon studio with some of the best studio players in Los Angeles. Together, Wilson and Burton achieved a sound that doesn’t descend into retro pastiche, but rather becomes an evocative echo, a dream of the past. In scope, it finds Burton using a far bigger canvas than on his acclaimed 2020 debut "I Can Go With You", giving the emotions therein a new sense of urgency and intensity. Burton has a knack for mining pure Laurel Canyon AM gold. Pastoral string arrangements bloom in the background of Sam’s striking honeyed vocals, like a modern day Campbell, Nilsson or Orbison. Partisan Records, July 14th, 2023.