JOSHUA BURNSIDE PULLS EVERYTHING BACK ON NEW ALBUM ‘IT’S NOT GOING TO BE OKAY’

There has always been something slightly uneasy about the music of Joshua Burnside. Even on his more layered records, where electronics and off-kilter folk rhythms sat side by side, there was a feeling that the songs were circling around something he never quite said out loud. On It’s Not Going to be Okay, that restraint is gone. What remains is the sound of a songwriter speaking plainly, and the impact is stronger for it.

The album was written after the death of Burnside’s close friend Dean Jendoubi, and that loss hangs over every track. Rather than build the songs up, he pulls everything back. The arrangements are sparse, often just voice and acoustic guitar, with the occasional subtle texture sitting far in the background. It gives the record a sense of space that can feel uncomfortable, but that seems to be the point. Nothing here is trying to soften what the songs are about.

Lead single “Moon High” is the clearest example. The song moves slowly, almost cautiously, as if the words are being worked out while they are being sung. Burnside has spoken about the way grief can make the mind shut down before the feeling catches up, and the track follows that line of thought without forcing a conclusion. When the emotion finally shows itself, it does so quietly, which makes it land harder than any big chorus could.

Across the album, the songs feel like fragments of conversation rather than finished statements. Earlier releases drew on folklore, politics and surreal imagery, but here the writing stays close to real events and real people. The title It’s Not going to be Okay sets the tone early. There is no attempt to wrap things up neatly, only the sense of someone trying to keep moving while knowing that some things do not mend.

I first saw Burnside play at Bush Hall a few years ago, and it remains a memorable show precisely because of that same sense of restraint. There was no need for big gestures or elaborate staging. The songs carried the room on their own, and the audience listened in the way people only do when they know they are hearing something honest. Hearing this new record, it is easy to imagine those tracks working in that same setting, with nothing to hide behind.

What stands out most is how natural the record sounds. Burnside’s voice is left rough around the edges, and the playing is allowed to breathe. Small pauses, slight imperfections and the lack of obvious polish make the songs feel more direct, as if they were recorded because they had to be, not because there was a deadline.

Later in the year, Burnside will take the album out on a headline tour, including a Belfast date with fellow Northern Irish songwriter Foy Vance. It looks like a good fit. Both artists work in a space where feeling matters more than volume, and these new songs in particular sound built for rooms where people are listening properly.

It’s Not Going to be Okay is not an album that tries to offer comfort. It stays with the uncertainty instead, and that honesty is what makes it work. Joshua Burnside has made a record that feels unguarded, personal and, at times, difficult to sit with — which is exactly why it stays with you.