Don’t go into Brad Gerke’s Burden expecting resolution. That’s for the next album. According to Gerke’s statement on Bandcamp, Burden was nearly complete in a burst of productivity right when Gerke completed his previous album. But we all know how these things go — it took a while to get the songs to tape and in the meantime, they took on richer meanings as some of these prophecies came true.
Gerke shifts between blues, country, pop, and rock with graceful ease. His lyrics encompass Biblical proportions and the truths of the heart with a sense of mysticism that reminds me of State Champion. While I wish the album had a bigger sound to match the lyrics’ ambitions, these songs’ intimate nature also have an alluring quality.
Gerke writes, “In the way life and art imitate
one another, in some ways this album did become a bit burdensome. I
wanted to call it “Burden” as a legal joke. It’s a reference to the
burden of proof, but these songs were also largely written during a very
dark time in my life, when I was carrying a lot of mental burdens. Many
of these songs contain biblical reference on a scale I haven’t really
approached before, and I think that’s because I was going through a
spiritual death of sorts at the time. Then as the deadline of releasing
the record approached, I was taking finals and working at the same time,
and there was constant stress to progress on all fronts. But I think
this sense of desperation made the record better and represented the
songs in their truest form.”
Whether Gerke is reaching to the heavens or searching deep within, he touches us that the real truths lie somewhere in the middle.