Sam Burton’s new album, “Fairweather Friend,” is the result of a difficult stretch that included being dropped by his label, financial instability, personal losses and a near-fatal car crash. “I really lost everything trying to pay for this record,” he told Rolling Stone. “And I really put everything I had into it.” The album is his third and is out via Captured Tracks.
Burton began work on the record after his 2023 album “Dear Departed” failed to find an audience. He left Partisan, a decision he described as mutual, and signed with Captured Tracks. He reunited with producer Jonathan Wilson, who had also worked on “Dear Departed,” but pushed himself to make an album he would be satisfied with.
That process involved repeatedly recording the 11 songs. Burton said the title track was cut in five studios with five different bands. With a smaller budget, he eventually moved out of his Los Angeles home and stayed with friends before briefly returning to his family’s home in Utah. He also re-recorded half the album at drummer Pierce Gibson’s Echo Park studio and produced some of it himself.
The record follows a period of upheaval. In 2022, Burton was driving his band home from shows near St. George, Utah, when another car swerved into his lane. He braked, lost control and hit a police car. Burton said the band was fortunate to escape without more serious consequences. Afterward, he experienced guilt and panic attacks while driving, and parted ways with a bandmate who had been in the van.
Burton says those experiences, along with the end of other relationships and tensions during his time in Los Angeles, shaped songs including “Picture People” and “After Days Slip Away.” As a Palestinian American, he also felt anger that musicians around him were not speaking about the Israel-Gaza conflict. Songwriting helped him work through that frustration and find a sense of peace within himself, he said.
Earlier in his career, Burton also took criticism of his live performances as a reason to improve. After negative reviews of his 2023 shows opening for Weyes Blood in the U.K. and Europe, he studied acoustic performances by Neil Young and Bert Jansch, worked on his guitar playing and began talking and joking with audiences.
With “Fairweather Friend” released, Burton hopes to move beyond opening slots and play headlining shows. “If you just keep opening, you’ll never really crack through,” he said.
Sources: Rolling Stone.