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No Love Is Sorrow is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter-guitarist Buck Curran. The album's primary influence draws upon personal experience, along with an idiosyncratic musical style developed over many years as a solo artist and member of the psych-folk duo Arborea. The album presents a body of soundscapes...acoustic and electric instrumentals, psychedelic poetic folk songs...compositions inspired by visions of the surreal landscapes of life: love, hope, loss, fear, transformation, the light of expecting a newborn child, dreams, the realization of impermanence with the recent losses of family members and friends. Further inspiration was drawn from music as wide-ranging as experimental music, '60s, and '70s Folk and psychedelic Blues-rock, Jazz, Western classical music, and Indian classical music.
“Ghost on the Hill,” “Deep in the Lovin' Arms of My Babe,” “Odissea,” and “One Evening” are very personal songs that include lyrical themes of love, memories, and fear: “Ghost on the Hill” is a haunting and poetic memoir of life past, “One Evening” (in the poetic style of Bob Dylan's “It's Alright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding”) is a harrowing statement charged with scenes of contemporary life: love and hope, uncertainty and fear created by society, technology, and politics. “Blue Raga,” “No Love Is Sorrow,” “Marie,” “For Adele,” “Chromaticle,” and “Lucia” are experimental tone poems created through improvisation on acoustic guitar. “War Behind the Sun” is a searing psychedelic electric guitar instrumental. “Django (New Years Day)” is Curran's debut on piano inspired by the music of Claude Debussy and Erik Satie.
Credits: Buck Curran - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, EBow, piano
Adele Pappalardo - additional vocals
Dipak Kumar Chakraborty - Tabla on Blue Raga
Written, Recorded, and mixed by Buck Curran between December 2018 and February 2020
Track Listing:
1. Blue Raga
2. Ghost on the Hill
3. No Love Is Sorrow
4. Deep in the Lovin' Arms of My Babe
5. Marie
6. Odissea
7. For Adele
8. Django (New Years Day)
9. One Evening
10. Chromaticle
11. War Behind the Sun
12. Lucia
13. Ghost on the Hill (Alternate Version)
14. Blue Raga (Alternate Version)
15. Marie (Alternate Version)
16. Odissea (Alternate Version)
Press Quotes: “The mournful, elegant tones that neo-folk artist Buck Curran draws from voice and guitar have a capacity to linger in the air long after the notes have faded. Recorded at the American guitarist's home in northern Italy shortly before the area went into lockdown, 'No Love Is Sorrow' is a beautiful piece of work, interspersing space, atmospheric instrumentals with more complete songs like spooky western "Ghost On The Hill', the ballad "Deep In The Lovin' Arms of My Babe'" and the title track. Curran sings with the gravelly decorum of Mark Lanegan but the songs remain, bewitchingly, just over the next horizon.” – 8/10 Peter Watts, UNCUT
“…filled with beauty, a minimialist psychedelic folk. Roughly half instrumental and half straight songwriter-folk, Curran’s guitar is a layered, many-faceted thing, shapeshifting with each track, digging its way into your ears, past your brain and right to your heart. Times are tough, but the music is still something special. I hope these new albums help smooth out some of the rough spots in your day or provide a few moments of relaxing meditation.” – Aaron Stein, JamBase
MUSICIANS: BUCK CURRAN
