Knowlton Bourne at Performer

When a dog has a broken leg, it’s taken out back and shot. When a man has
a broken soul he writes through the night. Recorded during a year he spent
working on a farm outside of Oxford, out of school and out of his mind,
Knowlton Bourne’s Songs From Motel 43 has a genuine youthful enthusiasm
that can’t be faked. It’s the sound of someone watching the world reveal
itself for the first time, each new experience something to be savored,
even the tragedy. It’s alive & awake & terrified & enraptured. Open up
your mouth and say awe.

Because he’s spent his whole life in Mississippi, 23-year-old Knowlton
Bourne can’t help sounding southern—it’s there in the twang you hear every
time he opens his mouth. But listen closely and you hear so much more than
americana. You can hear it in the hooks, you can hear it in the
arrangements, the popcraft that makes his songs stand out like knives.
Songs From Motel 43 is a perfectly paced album that builds upon itself
like a killer collection of short stories.

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