TORONTO, Canada (www.myspace.com/barzinh) - Slow, sad and haunting are the songs on Barzin's latest opus about the possibility of achieving a meaningful life that's dedicated to the arts. That he never comes to a concrete conclusion hardly matters when the music is as affecting as this. You'll need to experience My Life In Rooms first-hand to know where he's heading. A must." - Now Magazine
Barzin Hosseini has been pretty tied-up lately. Recording a version of Sparklehorse's "Sad and Beautiful World" for Slight Record's Sparklehorse Tribute album, shooting a video for the song "Leaving Time" from his latest album My Life In Rooms, and heading off for an onslaught of Canadian and European dates. Planning an extensive US tour for the spring is just one more task keeping the Canadian songwriter occupied these days.
Slight Record label guru Kaleb Gay, of popular webzine Slightly Confusing To A Stranger, says that Daniel Johnston and Levi Fuller, and Racing Paper Planes, are a few of the artists scheduled to appear on the Sparklehorse tribute. Gay is being pretty tight-lipped about other bands' involvement, but considering the confirmed bands, Slight's secrecy and Barzin's confirmed involvement—you know it's going to be hot.
Director Vincent Moon, known for his work with the National and Jamie Lidell, is behind the lens for the video. Barzin tells us he is not sure what to expect, but he says he trusts and admires Vincent Moon's directorial eye and previous work and is looking forward to working with him.
With lyrics like "Everything is like a photograph / We'll hang it on the walls / Picture frames and postcards / We're in love with everything that's lost" from his sophomore full-length My Life in Rooms, it's easy to see how Canadian songwriter Barzin might gain comparisons to lauded indie artists like M. Ward, Sparklehorse, Cat Power, Tindersticks and Smog. Look and listen a little deeper however, and you'll find this song is more reminiscent of Jesus and Mary Chain's classic "Just like Honey" and the lyrics to another of the album's tracks "Just More Drugs" play on Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb".
The nine intrinsically melancholy tracks on the album, delivered in Barzin's whispery lo-fi vocals, are backed by an orchestra of instruments ranging from a French horn to a Vibraphone. The lush string arrangements heard on songs such as "Leaving Time", "Acoustic Guitar Phase" and the title track were scored by Karen Graves (Hayden), Great Lake Swimmers' Tony Dekker lends his songwriting skills on "Take This Blue", and Toronto-based poet Suzanne Hancock also contributes her talent to the record.
Barzin composes verses that most of us only dream of writing, and arranges them into heart-achingly beautiful songs that say what we could never put into words. With the help of a few friends and their instruments, he molds them into the symphony that is My Life in Rooms.
Barzin On Tour:
11/02 Guelph, ONT E-Bar
11/03 London, ONT Forest City Gallery
11/04 Peterborough, ONT The Spill
11/11 Brugge, Belgium Cactus Club
11/12 Brussels, Belgium "Duyster" (radio show)
11/14 Paris, FR Triptych
11/15 Barcelona, ES Sala Sidecar
11/16 Tarragona, ES Sala Groove
11/17 Castellon, ES Centre Municipal de Cultura (Ciclo Sons)
11/18 Huesca, ES C.C. Matadero
11/19 Don Benito (Badajoz), ES Rincon de Don Pio Sound
11/22 Milano, IT Magnolia
11/25 Luxembourg, Luxembourg d:qliq
