by Jare C (@jareccurtis)
If you’ve set foot inside of Radio Bean, or any other venue anywhere near Burlington, Vermont in the past three years, you’ve likely heard the name Greg Freeman at least once. A fixture of that local music scene, Freeman had been steadily playing gig after gig in and around his home scene since the beginning, self-releasing his first record in 2022. In that time, Freeman has seen a wash of success, as his first record, I Looked Out, steadily gained a flush of momentum in indie, slacker, and jam rock circles. With the recent release of Burnover, we see Freeman tackling a similar aesthetic approach, with each track nestling into its own respective groove.
It is a real challenge to talk about this record without saying the name “MJ Lenderman,” to the point where to google Greg Freeman’s name is to end up on an MJ Lenderman subreddit within the first handful of search results. While comparisons can definitely be derived, within the current trend of “90s-country-inspired-alternative-rock-music,” beyond that, Freeman is really doing his own thing. The hallmark of Burnover, right from its speedy opening, is almost certainly Freeman’s raw, angular, vocal delivery of vividly descriptive lyrics, coupled with a flood of guitar-centered instrumentation. The construction of each song, and how they combine together to build the overall arc of the record, is an absolute bath for the ears, track to track the whole way through.
From the very top of the record, Freeman wastes no time in getting straight to the point. “Point and Shoot” opens things up wait away, no intro, just straight melody and guitar dive, instantly embracing the listener in to the reflective, experiential world of the album, and Freeman’s storytelling. “Salesman” is a groovy, rocking track that leans heavily on a steady groove and a driving tambourine, with vocals tumbling over twisty fingerpicked guitar, and several jammy breakdown passages. The evocative “Rome, New York” offers a slight break to the festivities with a orchestral overture of an opening, which gives way to a jaunty, piano driven, almost vaudevillian folk track that couples the established core of the songwriting with a creative take on its outer layers. “Garlic Shrug” offers a long driving, placid journey that fully wraps its arms around full-blown pedal steel worship, with the plucky, jaunty keys melding with catchy melodies. The title track eases into a more vulnerable mood, complete with lamenting harmonica melody and one of the catchiest chorus riffs of the year. The following “Gulch” feels like a cathartic barn burner fresh off the heels of what came before, with an instrumental buildup through each verse and chorus that finds Freeman’s vocals at their most fun and daring, with a sneaky mischief underlying throughout. Curtain becomes Freeman’s cabaret track, where those jaunty pianos take front and center, spotlighting an emotional and reflective vocal performance brilliantly soundtracked by cascading horns and rocking drums. “Gone (Can Mean a Lot of Things)” finds the album at its most radio friendly, with a catchy melody and an unrelenting lead guitar performance that soars from place to place. The penultimate track “Sawmill” finds Freeman singing from the wings again, with a gentle shaker and violin backdrop that almost ventures into a somber goodbye, with a harrowing vocal accompaniment and spoken word passage that departs on a melancholy note. That is until, of course, folk-rock epic “Wolf Pine,” where we see Freeman at both his most balladic, and his most grandiose. Over the course of nearly nine minutes, all the elements of the record up to its final resting place come together. Strings, guitars, drums, horns, pianos, backing vocals, and of course Freeman himself blend melody and discord to paint the listener a picture of growth, resilience, and introspection that builds to a remarkable crescendo, leaving them as charged up as it found them.
On the whole, Burnover is a remarkable home run for Greg Freeman. While he takes big swings over and over throughout its runtime, he knows to play to his strengths, and in doing so, he leaves a fabulous impression. If you have put your ears anywhere near folk, rock, or country in the past few years, this is absolute a stop you should make on your journey.