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Reto Burrell
Roses Fade Blue
Blue Rose BLU DP0323
By Marianne Ebertowski
 If all you can associate
with Switzerland are the cuckoo clock, some guy who shoots apples
from other people's heads with an arrow, and yodeling dirndl-wearing
Heidi's, try this album by Lucerne-born Reto Burrell. Burrell,
now in his early thirties, is a former guitarist with Swiss punk
band Profax, who debuted as a solo artist in 2001 with Echo
Park, a pop rock album with strong American roots rock influences.
Tom Petty, the Wallflowers and Sheryl Crow are among his favorites
as well as thanks to his English father the Rolling
Stones, the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Roses Fade Blue, released on the German label Blue
Rose, (who denies any responsibility for the album's title,)
is Burrell's first strictly acoustic album, and a damn fine album
it has become. Accompanied by a band of talented, mostly Swiss
musicians, Burrell offers the listener eleven glorious Americana-tinged
pop songs, all but two written by himself, all melodic and memorable.
The title song is a beautifully crafted ballad with great
melody hooks and a very pleasant instrumentation (acoustic guitar,
piano, percussion and droning organ in the background) that perfectly
suits Burrell's voice, which has a certain resemblance with Elvis
Costello's in his My Aim Is True days. A comparison
with a very young and vocally still undamaged Steve Earle (Guitar
Town) wouldn't be too far-fetched either - with a dash of
young Robert Zimmermann at just the right moments.
Roses Fade Blue is a life-and-love-gone-wrong album
with an optimistic slant. In "Guilty But Innocent,"
the singer does a runner with his best mate's girlfriend who,
quite understandably, swears to take revenge till the bitter
end without being able to prevent that the couple lives happily
ever after. The song starts with a harmonica blasting away Dylan-like,
features Anita Maric on harmony vocals, and has a gently-lilting
country feel to it.
"Time Can Heal" is a gorgeous, confident folksy
pop ballad about the ups and downs of life with nicely integrated
low-key piano. Well written, well played and well sung, it underlines
the impression that Burrell is able to churn out masterful tunes
by the numbers, and he does indeed.
"A Spell On Me" with it's repetitive "If You
Gotta Go, Go Now" guitar riffs, probably the prettiest
and simplest song on the album, is followed by the up-tempo "Club
of Indecision" that, with its ringing guitars and almost
angry vocals, is the most Costello-like track on the album.
"Ordinary," another mournful, irresistible ballad
with just acoustic guitar and percussion and a cello floating
in halfway, is a contemplative song about life and living. "All
we do is walk in circles, it's the going not the getting there,
"sings Burrell and for a moment life doesn't seem so bad
anymore. The moment of acquiescence, however, is immediately
interrupted by the vehemence of shattered emotions in "Bag."
"Tell me, are 'fuck-off' the final words?" the singer
wonders and pulls himself together with an angry "I don't
wanna cry for you." It's a beautifully sung tune, solely
accompanied by acoustic guitar.
Time for two songs written by someone else. "Forever
Is a Long Time," by one Jabe Beyer, is a very cool slide-accompanied
blues track. The real challenge, of course, is Gershwin's "Summertime."
Many artists have tried it, some succeeded, many stumbled, most
fell. Reto Burrell's version is pleasantly unambitious. He
uses a very simple approach just built around acoustic guitar
and discreet Rhodes piano before throwing himself into a wave
of increasing piano noise, just to get out at the other side
of the song unharmed. Not the most innovative take on the song,
but not bad at all!
Back to his own work, Burrell continues with "Find,"
an encouraging kick-in-the-rear and get-your-act- together song
brimming with the rare pop quality of a Crowded House tune. The
closure "Don't Want No More" is the heartbreaking account
of the end of a relationship ("we don't have much - much
in common anymore"), all wistfulness and pain, delicately
underscored by Stefania Verità on Cello.
Roses Fade Blue is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of
work and, as far as this writer is concerned, the best thing
to come out of Switzerland since the invention of cheese with
holes in it.
www.retoburrell.com
www.bluerose-records.com
Contact Marianne Ebertowski at ebertowski-at-rockzilla.net
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