BMA single review by Vince Leigh
Capturing our pop-rock hearts with fire
If ever there was a song title that ought to capture the attention of Australian music listeners, it’s this one. And perhaps the pelagic-inspired metaphor on show here is a no-brainer, used as it is to explore a disagreeable encounter that incites one to exercise vigilance. But it appears BURNSY is not even left with that, as this line indicates, ‘Another soul taken beyond the tide / And did you know that now, I don’t feel a thing anymore.’ A cautionary tale if there ever was one.
The Perth-based singer-songwriter, originally from the coastal region of Scotland, unveils his declarations within the confines of the pop-rock genre, harnessing the inbuilt fire and fervour of a guitar-driven assortment of classic, accessible rock to get his message across. And it does indeed. The shark imagery works, of course, the scattered ‘pieces along the ocean floor’, the fate met ‘below the blue’, the bones ‘washed on the beach’, they all serve to tell the tale that is as commonplace as our predatory friends are along our shores.
Hooked on the ride
As BURNSY himself states about his musical pursuits, ‘I aim to offer a fusion of first and second-hand life experiences that encompass love, heartbreak, fear, opto-pessimism, soul-searching, and self-loathing. My objective is to reflect on the challenges faced by the everyday individual, recognizing that we can often be our own worst enemy but recognizing that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.’
The song kicks off with a swelling, transmuting guitar part that is a decent enough ride to hitch on to get to the heart of the song, riding along a single chord for quite a while before a change, which is commendable itself, the verse able to sustain our interest before morphing into a mini-pre chorus to arrive at the hook, and one that is decidedly more subtle than the imagery. And fittingly so, it allows BURNSY’s vocal approach—persuasively endearing without submitting to exuberance—to maintain the track’s measured and efficient take on emotional scarring.
You can hear this track on Spotify or Apple Music
