{"id":12821,"date":"2024-12-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12821"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:28:25","slug":"album-review-burs-holding-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2024\/12\/17\/album-review-burs-holding-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review :: Burs :: Holding Patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/a4195324154_16.jpg\" alt=\"burs holding patterns album cover. Beige with paint pastell paint brush strokes \" class=\"wp-image-12822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/a4195324154_16.jpg 700w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/a4195324154_16-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/a4195324154_16-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/a4195324154_16-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>by Paul Newsom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toronto\u2019s Burs<em> <\/em>wrote a record as distinct and enduring as an army of their namesakes. <em>Holding Patterns <\/em>is purposeful, mixing curiosity, confession, and metaphor to startling effect. The album\u2019s production is eminently clear, leaving empty space to haunt as opaque edges demand scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>In \u201cHard Love,\u201d Lauren Dillen sings: \u201cAll the people that once knew me, they knew somebody else \/ I am seeping through the fabric from the wound of the troubles that I wear.\u201d Every other phrase on the record is nearly as vivid and affecting. This is music in full colour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On both song- and album-scale, the music builds and builds and builds, only showing its full courage and endurance by record\u2019s end. Paired singing and acoustic guitar anchor a host of other sounds &#8211; all in their right place as they muse on things gone wrong. Though it only flourishes on the timescale, it is hard to imagine \u201cThe Year Now\u201d<em> <\/em>without its tambourine and woodwind touches.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTry,<em>\u201d <\/em>carried by harmonized singing (versus more common unison and octaved backing vocals), feels like a \u201970s folk throwback in its warmth and wonder. \u201cNearly,\u201d several tracks later, carries this trend further with stripped-down form and lucid lyrics: \u201cThere is only space enough for clowns inside this car.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHunger\u201d<em> <\/em>is anthemic, projecting the scale of a post-rock song from its radio-length span. Every strum haunts, and each piano tone bends to bleed the canvas full. \u201cI Have a Light\u201d<em> <\/em>is a memorable demo-like epilogue dotted by background static. It\u2019s satisfying to see this ambivalent journey closed off with quiet hope.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Holding Patterns <\/em>sounds like how its album cover looks. Like good abstract art, the individual pieces can be read and reread in myriad combinations without missing the artist\u2019s own signature. Burs\u2019 work is as fascinating as it is unmistakable.&nbsp;For fans of<em>: <\/em>Carissa\u2019s Wierd, Girlpool, \u201970s folk in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Year Now\" width=\"1140\" height=\"855\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L5FMIUXNPrU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Paul Newsom Toronto\u2019s Burs wrote a record as distinct and enduring as an army of their namesakes. Holding Patterns is purposeful, mixing curiosity, confession, and metaphor to startling effect. The album\u2019s production is eminently clear, leaving empty space to haunt as opaque edges demand scrutiny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1420,1686,1687],"class_list":["post-12821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-burs","tag-holding-patterns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12823,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821\/revisions\/12823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}