The Burnt Pines isn’t your typical Stetson hat-wearing Americana band that can’t wait to share a bill with Margo Price or Sierra Ferrell. In fact, this trio simply has carved its own sound that doesn’t play into the trends of anything. One look at their press photos and you notice the age differences, the skin color mix, and a clash of clothing styles. Yet it’s these bold ingredients, that have earned The Burnt Pines some serious critical acclaim in the past few years.
A multicultural band anchored by three musicians who first came together at a Lisbon recording studio in the summer of 2019, the trio released their eponymous debut album in 2021 that challenged the conversation of song and craft when cultures collide. This past February 3rd the trio released their second album Don’t Look Down which contains more of the trio’s ethereal recipe.
With lead vocals by Kris Skovmand; veteran instrumentalist and arranger Flanders on guitar and banjo; and acclaimed piano, keyboard player, and arranger Miguel Sá Pessoa, Don’t Look Down also features Fernando Huergo on 5-string electric bass, and Luis Barros on drums and percussion.
Following the album’s release Glide gave us a rundown of each track of Don’t Look Down..
Bring Out Your Book
Kris Skovmand – acoustic guitar, percussion, harmonica;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitar;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Erica Leigh – background vocals.
“I’ve got four children really close in age, and I rarely have time to write songs. I started writing songs at bedtime as a solution to this. Sometimes I’d hit the nail on the head and write a full song as they were falling asleep. This is one of those songs. “Bring Out Your Book” is especially close to my heart for that reason. But looking back I can also see that I was preparing for an eventual divorce and all of the consequences that that would invite, and that’s reflected in the lyrics.” – Kris Skovmand
Don’t Look Down
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic and electric guitars;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“The reality of struggling through a difficult relationship or marriage is a total grey area. Sometimes you’re self-wallowing, ready to leave, and other times you’re pushing through and mustering the spirit to fight on. This song is like a determination to continue, but also to find your own new individual identity so that you can move on. The musical drive of the song reflects that tension.” – Kris Skovmand
Pushing On
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitar, guitar-banjo;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drum.
“’Pushing On’ was written purposefully as an upbeat, positive, spirited, and hopeful “feel-good” song. It conveys a message that, despite how difficult, painful, and challenging life might become at any given time, one should never forget how much they’ve already accomplished in life, and that, no matter what, one should keep moving forward and onward, keep pushing on, and keep believing in your dreams, no matter how difficult life might seem at that moment. It’s a song of hope and resiliency.” – Aaron Flanders
What Did You Come Back For?
Kris Skovmand – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion;
Aaron Flanders – electric guitar;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano;
Dan Fox – upright bass.
“The ambiguity and conflict in this song are what I like about it. After my divorce, I wanted to find myself again, but I also felt conflicted and still connected to my 10-year marriage. Whether it would work out or not didn’t seem up to me alone, it seemed like it was up to something outside of my personal experience, something beyond my control. Something magical, but also painful and chaotic, was happening. The vulnerability and tension in the song comes from seeking answers to something, but just not finding them, and having to be OK with that.” – Kris Skovmand
Angels and Violence
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitar;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, melodica;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“I was asking for help. I had so many difficulties in my marriage, and felt so alone, and also felt like I wanted to maintain the “strong” image of being able to keep our marriage together. It was hard for me to reach out and get support and ask for help. Thankfully I had my family and my bandmates supporting me.” – Kris Skovmand
In From the Outside
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic, acoustic slide guitars;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“This song was written as a response to the US presidential election of 2016, though a while after the election. It’s a hypothetical argument with a friend of mine who might (or might not) have been a supporter of the winner of that election. It highlights the fear that many of us had after that election, and firmly proclaims that, despite the danger of what we perceived in that 2016 presidency, those of us who still believed in democracy, fairness, equity and truth, would not remain silent.” – Aaron Flanders
Your Magic Is to Blame
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic and electric guitars;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards, melodica;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“I don’t think enough people really honestly admit or understand that you can perhaps both hate someone and love them at the same time. It’s very confusing to be head-over-heels in love, and at the same time just be utterly dismayed with your partner. The fascination we have with our own narratives about ourselves, and others, have an impact on us that can drive us forward, but also have the potential to destroy us.” – Kris Skovmand
The Ghost Living in My Beer
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitar, harmonica;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards, body percussion;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luís Barros – drums;
Joe Cunningham – tenor saxophone.
“I’ve had a tricky history with alcohol, and it has had an impact on my relationships. Most of the time it has had to do with my need to escape into something that I could pretend was ideal and fantastical just to get through the monotony of daily life and the pressures of raising kids, working, and being in a troubled marriage. I see this song as both a love letter to alcohol, while also acknowledging some of its more detrimental effects, but throwing caution to the wind at the same time.” – Kris Skovmand
Welcome Home!
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitars;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums;
Mariana Lebre Torres – background vocals.
“One of my favorite songs from the album because it’s so playful, quirky and so different from the band’s more familiar musical territory. To me this song is about falling in love with a proverbial alien, and makes me just feel this joyful sense that making music with people you love is the best thing anyone can ever do. I listen to this song now and feel that I’m just so lucky and so happy that I even had the experience to be able to make it with my bandmates.” – Kris Skovmand
Daytime TV
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic guitar;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano, melodica;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“’Daytime TV’ is a like movie for me. “. . .songs from the second floor” is a direct reference to a Roy Andersson movie. If you are familiar with his films, there is a certain sense of doom and gloom in them, but also a touch of existential comedy about the banality of the everyday world. Often in my head I wonder whether progress has been beneficial or detrimental to our mental health. I still love the old Pink Floyd image of a man just watching useless nonsense on TV and the sort of Terry Gilliam “Brazil” vibes that it conjures.” – Kris Skovmand
Bad Love
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic tenor guitar, electric guitars;
Miguel Sá Pessoa –keyboards;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“It’s unflattering for me to admit, but if you are in a marriage that has gone awry, you are most likely not having as much passionate and meaningful sex. Looking back, the animalistic and frustrated is what characterizes the lyrics of ‘Bad Love’ for me.”
– Kris Skovmand
Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)
Written by Ian Scott Anderson (Copyright BMG Monarch)
Kris Skovmand – vocals;
Aaron Flanders – acoustic and electric guitars, tambourine;
Miguel Sá Pessoa – piano;
Fernando Huergo – bass;
Luis Barros – drums.
“‘Skating Away’ has always arguably been my favorite Pop song of all-time, from any artist, and that’s still true to this day, nearly 40 years after it was written. Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) created just a perfect gem of a song, musically and lyrically, with “Skating Away”, and I’d always wanted to cover it. It was scary approaching a Jethro Tull song, because of Ian’s extraordinary vocals, guitar playing, and arrangement on the original, but I hope that we’ve done it justice with our version!” – Aaron Flanders