Teeth of Time

Belfast-based singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside’s latest album ranges from the atmospheric opener ‘Teeth of Time: Mountain’ – its first half a crescendo of live and found sounds which includes a homage to the late, great Seamus Heaney in an excerpt from ‘The Conway Stewart’ – to the imagined story of a circus performer, ‘Good For One Thing’, whose ‘Step right up, step right up’ refrain seems to nod to one of Burnside’s touchstones, Tom Waits. The delightfully circular fingerpicking of ‘Up and Down’ provides the backdrop to a touching meditation on life and death, while the memorable ‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road’ interweaves fiddle and guitar as Burnside confronts the fears of new fatherhood (‘Well I am a father now, God help us all / I said to myself as I held him’). An ode to County Down, where he grew up, ‘Climb the Tower’ presents a moving contemplation on memory and belonging. It’s an understated, sotto voce thing of beauty.