It’s just a name of course, but Shaun Bartlett doesn’t sound entirely Norwegian, and in fact he was born just a few miles up the coast from me in Plymouth, world famous for the docks, Francis Drake and the 2nd best football team in Devon. Hopefully he still remembers the correct way to layer cream and jam on a scone. After spells in different places, including Bahrain, he found himself back in Norway, his mothers homeland and those wide influences have clearly translated into his music too.
Shaun has released a number of albums, and is probably better known in Norway, partly due to appearances on TV programmes including The Voice. He’s performed live pretty much everywhere too, including a support slot to Leonard Cohen and has written music for films and TV too.
Anyway new album ‘Roots and Veins’ came out a couple of weeks ago, and it’s pretty easy listening singer songwriter style acoustic folk. Single ‘Forever Gone’ is probably the catchiest song on the album, and it will draw you straight in with a clever guitar hook, and it’s one of those well written songs that seems to flow effortlessly forward. The supporting instrumentals have a warmth too, I like the subtle way the piano replays the guitar theme for example. Nothing not to like, although it’s not really hard hitting or edgy, if that’s how you like your music.
The album makes good weekend listening I think, especially with tracks such ‘Whatever Weather’ and the brass infused ‘Not Your Kind’. I guess at 23 minutes it’s probably classed as a mini-album or a long EP.
This is ‘Forever Gone’.