Review Summary: What better way to reminisce on the days of our past?
Have you ever experienced a hollow feeling while staring at a setting sun after a long, hard day? The day is done; the work is over; and it is just a time to reflect and finalize your apprehension of the daylight that is now behind you. Maybe it’s not just a reflection of that day but of the days long forgotten from your youth as well. A moment of twilight in the peak of summer comes to mind--a time when I’m too young to care about my future, when the matters of the world amount to no more than the matters of my life. When Toby Burke laments over the ghostly piano keys of “Rockinghorse” that
’When the days go back and forth / Like an old rocking horse / And time won’t take its course / Just like you thought it would / Come back, come back, to me’, he is not recalling a girl or a friend; he is calling back the days of his past. The songwriter is experiencing this hollow-like feeling of closure and remembrance.
The feeling of longing turns out to pervade much of Horse Stories’
November, November. If anything, the album is an artistic, peaceful catharsis for the pent-up emotions hidden under Toby Burke’s songwriting profession. The majority of his songwriting is structured around delicate acoustic guitar formations that often come attended by sparse piano keys or an occasional drum set to carry a rhythm. Comparisons to Sun Kil Moon’s own Mark Kozelek can be drawn and with logical reason; however, there is a fundamental difference between the two songwriters in the distinction of their voices. Whereas the Red House Painters singer’s tone is mournful and peaceful, Toby Burke’s voice holds a certain degree of finesse in its tendency to rise and fall when he mouths each line. For example, the songwriter’s hopeful, yet melodramatic cantillate gives a hook, and more importantly, life to the chorus of “To The Light”:
’To the light, I’ll be running / To the light, I’ll be running.’ While the songs could have easily been dry and boring, the majority of the tracks actually succeed thanks to Toby Burke's main choice of weapon.
’Cause I need it, I need it, I need it… / Like a hole in the head,’ deplores Burke in the sarcastic musings of “Hole in the Head”. Though aptly carrying the weight of the music, Burke’s primary tone does cause some lyrical nuances and intended emotions, such as those pervading the aforementioned song, to pass by listeners unnoticed. As such, Toby’s best songs are those that play to the emotional range of his voice; that is, those that are neither happy nor angry, but rather, just sad and reflective. The questionable fixation of “Standing in the Snow” is probably something many of us can relate to and understand. On the track Toby’s agenda runs parallel with the sad remembrance he experiences when he thinks of the past. He’s not searching for revenge in questioning the security of a past love; the songwriter is just trying to lift the weight that has been pressed down on him since that time in his life. Discovering the true agenda behind Toby’s songs adds a certain long-lasting appeal to
November, November; it’s even more welcomed given the initial straightforward nature of the lyrics on first listens to the album.
Hollow and conclusive like the sunset of a long day,
November, November strikes one in more ways than just being a folk album. It takes a while to root itself into your mind, but once it does, you’ll start to relate to Toby’s lyrical subjects; you might even feel the urge to sing along to the subtle melodies that the songwriter has planted in the foundations of his songs. Has this been done before? Yes, it has; in fact, it has been done better by artists like Mark Kozelek or Bob Dylan. However, that doesn’t stop the songwriter from reaching even the most guarded of music listeners. Rising and falling like the cycle of our planet's star, Toby Burke’s voice recalls and invokes resolution and closure. What better way to reminisce on the days of our past?
