- 2023-08-25
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MUSIC
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Burr Island Releases New Song “English Roses”
British alt-folk duo Burr Island, consisting of Tom England and Oskar Porter, released a new song “English Roses” on August 4, 2023.
The song is their third single off, following “Nunney Town” and “Distant Stars”.
It was written by Tom England and Oskar Porter, The duo recorded at Kundalini Studios in Devon with producer Steve Cradock.
The song is a folk song about xenophobia and how growing up in small towns, the duo saw the insidiousness of unconscious racism, notably during Brexit when there was so much hostility in the air.
“It's a song that has been on a very long journey. We wrote it off several times and left it untouched for a few years. Now it's ready,” Burr Island said of the song. “ETom began writing the first few lyrics as long as eight years ago in student halls in Glasgow and, at the time, the words were merely thoughts and jottings, in response to the initial rumblings of 'Brexit', more a means of catharsis than anything else. It was the first time in our lives where xenophobic or racist views were able to be aired as if they were suddenly respectable. Ultimately, communities that have always been neglected by the privileged and the ruling class, were given an enemy that was simpler to understand: foreigners.”- The duo continued, “However, this song does not blame deprived communities. People were unsatisfied with their lives and wanted change; change came but it was change for the worse, wrapped in a cloak of deception. It's about latent racism and the fear of others, of outsiders, about living comfortable, often affluent, lives and choosing not to look beyond the roses at the end of the garden. In the countryside, people can be very protective of their 'way of life' and with that there can be a resistance to change, a fear of change, prejudice.”
They addd, “Life in the country can be emptier; emptier in that there are fewer distractions, less clutter; an emptiness that brings a clarity and a fullness. But country life can also be emptier; emptier of new ideas and outside influences; an emptiness that sometimes brings a detachment from 'others'. A song, grown out of bad soil, eight years in the making, has finally blossomed.” -
Photo by Adam Lorrimer-Roberts - source : Apple Music
