When the label’s bio describes an artist as something like a character from a Harmony Korine film, you know you have something different on your hands. Los Angeles-based songwriter MacGregor Burns has so much more going on besides music, having worked amongst other things as “a Hollywood tour guide, pet relocation specialist, substitute teacher and water polo referee,” not to mention starring in music videos for the likes of Moby, Mac Miller and Injury Reserve. It’s of little surprise then that Burns’s musical output possesses something of a singular personality, with classic folk longing matched with oddball humour and obscure references to create something at once idiosyncratic and emotive.
Following on from the release of full-length Paradise Motel, an album of country-inflected rock which saw members of Little Wings, Fell Runner and MegaBud help bring the vision to life, MacGregor Burns is back with a brand new single on Future Gods. Produced by Luke Temple, the song sees something of a change of style, with Burns pivoting away from the folk influences to embrace something closer to post-punk or slacker rock. But within the languid rhythm remains the same presence which marked the previous record. The vocals stretch the gamut between despondent, desperate and something like tenuous hope as they strive towards a truer version of self, whatever that might look like.