Most good songwriters and producers understand the value of spontaneous inspiration, and
T-Bone Burnett's long and distinguished career establishes him as somewhat better than "good." In 2019, he released
The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space, which he announced would be the first installment in a trilogy of albums that would be the summation of what he has to say as an artist and his final work as a musician. The second chapter,
The Invisible Light: Spells, appeared in 2022, but while working on the final chapter,
Burnett treated himself to a new guitar, and in the space of a few weeks he wrote enough songs for an LP that falls outside the confines of the
Invisible Light series, changing the tone of his final act. If the
Invisible Light albums were clearly meant to be a grand statement about humanity surrendering to technology accompanied by percussion and synthesized sounds, 2024's
The Other Side is nearly its polar opposite. It's a collection of 12 songs of uncluttered eloquence informed by
Burnett's belief in the human spirit, while the arrangements are almost exclusively taken up by acoustic instruments and vocals. Of the previous albums in his catalog,
The Other Side most closely resembles 1986's
T-Bone Burnett in its straightforward and naturalistic sound, while the opening track, "He Came Down," recalls the intelligent meditations on Christianity that dotted his early albums; however, most of these songs are about love, simple in their construction but deceptively deep in their contemplation of the demands and consequences of caring for other people.
Burnett also takes occasional detours into his concerns about a world mired in greed and pride, themes that have long been present in his work but with special urgency on the
Invisible Light projects.
The Other Side's arrangements are so spartan that they don't even feature drums, with the guitars of
Burnett and
Colin Linden and the string bass of
Dennis Crouch dominant among the instruments and the vocal duo
Lucius lending lovely harmonies on several tracks that reinforce this album's intimacy. While the collected aphorisms of "Everything and Nothing" and the witty breakup tune "(I'm Gonna Get Over This) Some Day" (the latter featuring
Rosanne Cash) show
Burnett hasn't lost his sharp wit or cleverness, this time out, he's more concerned with speaking from the heart, and in this case it pays off. In its sincerity, elegance, and compassion,
The Other Side is one of
T-Bone Burnett's warmest and most emotionally resonant works, and if it's less ambitious than the
Invisible Light albums, it's a powerful example of what he does best as a songwriter, a vocalist, and a producer. Perhaps someone should get him another new guitar and see if he has another LP this good waiting for us. ~ Mark Deming
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