Daniel Burton of the Early Day Miners originally wrote Offshore in 2001 and has recently re-recorded a 35-minute “director’s cut” with a great cast of talented musicians. Released by Secretly Canadian this past Tuesday, the new version offers listeners an epic song in six parts about "life on the Gulf Coast, the ever impending threat of hurricane, and the constant rebuilding one must endure to live there.”
Offshore opens with the instrumental, nine-minute prelude, Land of Pale Saints, and the album’s epic tone is set with rhythmic drums and hypnotic sounds that wash over the listener. Daniel Burton and Kate Long’s understated vocals begin in Deserter with “on a battleground forefathers were given ranks shells and mortars” and continues into Sans Revival, where the sound transforms into something reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.
Return on the Native opens the second half of the album, and Amber Webber takes over vocal responsibilities. A haunting track about a hurricane’s aftermath, the song emotes the despair felt by people returning home to destruction. Segueing directly into Silent Tents, the vocals end and the somber tone continues, and then, with rhythmic drums and a hypnotic feel, the album ends much as it began with the coda Hymn Beneath the Palisades.
From open to close, Offshore ebbs and flows and tells its story with beautiful instrumentation and straightforward lyrics. Daniel Burton has crafted, with poignancy and without pretense, a masterful work of art about the "white heat and misery" of life. Burton's story is well-said, wonderfully performed and empirically good.
Tour:
09/08/06 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber w/ Windsor For The Derby + Pela
09/09/06 New York, NY - Tonic w/ Windsor For The Derby + Pela
09/10/06 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw w/ Pela
09/11/06 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East w/ Pela
09/13/06 Toronto, ON - Tranzac
09/14/06 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
09/15/06 Dayton, OH - Nite Owl
09/16/06 Bloomington, IN - Hospital
Downloads:
Early Day Miners | Return of the Native [MP3]
Early Day Miners | Multiple Downloads
Offshore opens with the instrumental, nine-minute prelude, Land of Pale Saints, and the album’s epic tone is set with rhythmic drums and hypnotic sounds that wash over the listener. Daniel Burton and Kate Long’s understated vocals begin in Deserter with “on a battleground forefathers were given ranks shells and mortars” and continues into Sans Revival, where the sound transforms into something reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.
Return on the Native opens the second half of the album, and Amber Webber takes over vocal responsibilities. A haunting track about a hurricane’s aftermath, the song emotes the despair felt by people returning home to destruction. Segueing directly into Silent Tents, the vocals end and the somber tone continues, and then, with rhythmic drums and a hypnotic feel, the album ends much as it began with the coda Hymn Beneath the Palisades.
From open to close, Offshore ebbs and flows and tells its story with beautiful instrumentation and straightforward lyrics. Daniel Burton has crafted, with poignancy and without pretense, a masterful work of art about the "white heat and misery" of life. Burton's story is well-said, wonderfully performed and empirically good.
Tour:
09/08/06 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber w/ Windsor For The Derby + Pela
09/09/06 New York, NY - Tonic w/ Windsor For The Derby + Pela
09/10/06 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw w/ Pela
09/11/06 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East w/ Pela
09/13/06 Toronto, ON - Tranzac
09/14/06 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
09/15/06 Dayton, OH - Nite Owl
09/16/06 Bloomington, IN - Hospital
Downloads:
Early Day Miners | Return of the Native [MP3]
Early Day Miners | Multiple Downloads
