T-Bone Burnett
The Other Side (2024) USA

THE REVIEW

I confess that I knew him as a producer, remembering several of his productions with the soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" at the top, but I also like to remember his collaborations with, among others, Roy Orbison, Elton John & Leon Russell, Steve Earle, John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, and the splendid album by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and I won't mention anyone else even though there is also an Italian... And here I am listening to a superb, acoustic, inspired album that weaves through folk, blues, and country. Intimate and real, sometimes even imaginary, of a world still invisible to our eyes, yet longed for by all, for this contemporary society that Cohen also knew how to sing about very well, and I see in the corner the desert-like Cooder smiling. 12 acoustic tracks for 40 minutes of music that knows how to capture you in a warm embrace from the first listen, delicate and intimate with a couple of guitars and little else, a couple of dark and nocturnal ballads, his voice sometimes seems to whisper his secrets into our ear in a delightful vintage atmosphere. You absolutely have to listen to this album and then, if you wish, we can discuss it further.