Burwell - Out of Place
It has taken me a couple of tries, sitting here, to actually get words out for this review. I felt so ‘Out of Place’ trying to piece this together, I think for several reasons. Suffice it to say, though, that Burwell’s latest release, ‘Out of Place’ is a very special track that has the power and beauty to leave speechless any earnest music lover. There is a simultaneous quality of remorse and renewal in this piece that I find arresting.
Without reading too deeply into Burwell’s past, one can clearly gauge some degree of tumultuous relationship between her and her father. One need only brush over the Burwell press kit to know that. The accompanying video certainly details this conflicted past (and sense of new life) in a more detailed way.
According to Burwell, this track, aside from a form of her own personal healing, is meant to give listeners “permission to have emotions they don’t know how to verbalize”. And perhaps that is the clincher here for me. ‘Out of Place’ certainly left me with emotions I didn’t know how to verbalize…at least not the first few times I tried to type them out here.
To the song itself, it was penned with fellow musician Keilan Creech back in 2016 to be included on a currently unreleased EP from their former duo The Tide Rose. The fact that this song, four years after the fact can still carry so much weight and continue to be relevant simply goes to show the relatability this tune has. Everyone has some form of regret and everyone has some complicated relationship down the line. And, let’s be honest, who here can honestly say that they’ve never felt ‘Out of Place’? By title alone this track is relatable.
The opening of this tune features an already emotional pick and pluck of the guitar, which carries on throughout the verse until a light strum meets the chorus. Lyrically, a simple enough story is being told of a meeting between two individuals. This meeting “might be too soon” and there are “things [they] wish [they] could say”. I realize I take a liberty here, assuming that both parties have this sense of something to say while neither can escape the safety of small talk and platitudes but, having been on both sides of some pretty rocky relationships, I’d like to think there is a struggle on both sides.
Burwell’s vocals in this piece are heartbreakingly fragile until she hits the bridge and pushes more with the power of someone finding the confidence to stand for themselves and begin the process of looking forward more than backward. Creech harmonizes wonderfully with Burwell through the chorus and bridge and lends some credence to the idea that this song is not simply a myopic musing but an understanding between two people (or at least of one person about two people).
While this is a brief moment in the song, I have to say that I love the vocal slide from chorus to bridge. It truly does take the listener for a ride into a powerful moment.
The video released alongside this reflective recording is equally as heartbreaking and beautiful. There is an age-old quality to the way in which it was shot in that the colour is stripped, there is a filter to give the illusion of old film and we open with stop-motion! All of these elements instantly take us back in time, not to mention the heirloom chair that we first set our eyes on, as it is being wrapped in vines. The symbolism here of literally being tied to the past is just fucking wonderful. Then, as we get our first look at Burwell, she is wandering the woods in a vintage white dress which adds to the reflection of the past while giving an air of innocence. Speaking of a reflection of the past, there is a cracked stand-up mirror in the woods that Burwell sings to which is literally reflective and seems also to suggest (though I may be reading too much into a lot of this) that she simply feels as though she is talking to herself or is combating herself in an effort to move beyond the past.
The latter seems backed up by the one moment where her reflection reaches out for her as she walks away from the mirror. It is a brief but wonderfully powerful moment and a great cinematographic addition. And, if we want to scour the video for more symbolism, all I have to do is go back to my comment about the fragility in Burwell’s voice and then point out the box you may momentarily catch in frame that specifically says “fragile” as we focus in on the mirror. There is a fragility to the past and present in this shot and it so easily adheres to the narrative of the song in a wonderful way; embracing the past while unpacking the present to walk forward into the future. Add to that the intensity of Burwell’s tears over a projected home video of a father and daughter playing and…well…let’s just say “the ice begins to melt away with every sound I don’t make”
And that being said, I really could keep singing the praises of this tune while breaking down the meaning and nuances within it and the video but I think you just need to hear and see for yourself to develop and appreciate your own interpretation. And do make sure to keep up to date with Burwell as she continues to release work for her ‘New Songs From The Past’ series! Burwell is a gem who, in spite of dust settled from ages past, shines for all to see; in power and beauty.
