Singles Spotlight:
Cari Burdett
– “Don’t Forget”

Hello reader,

How are you today?

Welcome back, or welcome if this is your first visit to SWT. Please look around the site and stay awhile.

Today I’m excited to talk about a BC Canada-based singer-songwriter, vocalist, and vocal coach crafting great music: Cari Burdett. The press release for her newest album, which came out recently on September 18th, summarizes her previous musical work and talks about the album itself: “After nearly a decade of writing, recording, healing and finding her way back to her voice, Canadian singer-songwriter Cari Burdett has released her long-awaited second studio album, Don’t Forget, via Release Guru on vinyl, CD and on all streaming services.

The seven-song collection explores friendship, grief, belonging, healing, nature and love, bringing together Burdett’s distinctive voice with an exceptional group of Canadian musicians and longtime collaborators.

Produced by Toronto multi-instrumentalist Robbie Grunwald, Don’t Forget features Dean Drouillard on guitar, Brian Kobayakawa on bass, Joshua Van Tassel on drums, Grunwald on keyboards, Adrian Dolan on violin and viola, and Amy Laing on cello, with string arrangements by Dolan. The album was mastered by Heather Kirby.

Cari says, ‘Spending those days in the studio with musicians I’ve long admired gave me an even deeper appreciation for the community of artists we share.’

Getting Don’t Forget out into the world marks the end of a long and challenging road for Burdett. Following her previous album, Magnolia — nominated for Best World Album at the 2016 Western Canadian Music Awards — an unexpected injury left her with a paralyzed vocal cord and forced the cancellation of a planned Canadian tour that included many prestigious jazz festival appearances.

The years that followed took Burdett through a profound period of healing that involved reconnecting with nature, along with her voice, identity, and sense of belonging. That journey included artist residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and in the French Pyrenees, as well as an extended nature quest that included four days alone in the wilderness.

Burdett met Grunwald at the Banff Centre, and with additional support from the Canada Council for the Arts, she traveled to Toronto, where the two began developing and recording Don’t Forget with the musicians who would become the core studio band.

The project continued through the pandemic, and as Burdett’s voice recovered, she was finally able to return to the recording process and complete the remaining vocals with Grunwald in British Columbia with longtime collaborator Adrian Dolan.

‘Don’t Forget is more than my first album of original songs,’ Cari says. ‘It is the story of finding my way back to myself. These songs carried messages that I didn’t fully understand when I wrote them. Years later, I found myself living them.”

The results are pure magic, as exemplified by Don’t Forget’s title track, with its slow-burning groove evoking classic Portishead, as well as the single ‘Where Is Love,’ a gorgeous slice of pop-soul that would surely make Carole King smile.

Throughout, Cari’s take on adult contemporary songcraft offers an intoxicating mix of styles that in the end is entirely her own. Yet, at the heart of the record is an urgent plea for connection — to one another, to nature and to something larger than ourselves.

Cari concludes, ‘I hope this album can serve as a reminder that love is everywhere, in the trees, in the air, in friendship, in grief, and in the people who carry us through difficult times.'”

Listen, and I think you’ll be reminded of everything Burdett mentioned. And “Where Is Love” indeed reminds me, and it’ll remind you of Carole King in the best ways. And fans of Portishead will be reminded of their sound too. Make sure to listen to that song after you finish today’s Singles Spotlight on “Don’t Forget”.

Now that we’ve talked about Burdett’s discography and her newest album a bit, let’s explore one of my favorite songs on the album. A song that I think will make y’all fans of hers. Like other songs on the album, it deserves this spotlight. The Singles Spotlight today is on the titular song, “Don’t Forget”. If you’ve never heard Burdett’s vocals before, your ears and brain are in for a treat. Think full-bodied, powerful vocals, maybe harkening back to eras past. Maybe days of cabaret times. Plenty of sultry and smoky mezzo-soprano tone in the best ways. The tone isn’t a carbon copy, as Burdett is her own voice, but to put it into perspective, the tone reminds me of Carole King. If you’re not a Carole King fan, you’re no friend of mine. Add influences of jazz, opera, and pop with a ton of soul, and more, and you get gorgeous, earworm-worthy moments as you listen. You feel warm, and you’re captivated. You don’t want the album to end; you’ll probably listen on repeat for a while. The lyrics are a call to arms, a plea. They are placed over smooth musicianship that crafts a melody that serves as a lovely foundation for the vocals on top. A wonderful listening experience and a great song overall. We’re excited to feature it in our Singles Spotlight series as we shine a little more light on Cari Burdett.

But don’t take my word for it; listen and watch for yourself.

The beach-at-sunset lyric video for the song “Don’t Forget” from Cari Burdett’s YouTube channel:

(All credits and rights to Cari Burdett)

The cover art for Don’t Forget:

The track list for the Don’t Forget album:

1. Where Is Love (3:58)
2. Rosemary Lavender Thyme (4:05)
3. Don’t Forget (3:54)
4. Don’t Know if I Love You (3:52)
5. Noemi (2:48)
6. Robert Goodbye (3:33)
7. Carried By Your Light (3:22)

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com