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The world of David Berkeley resonates differently than most. Over 22 years, he has recorded nine solo albums; as Josiah Chester Jones, he is the American half of the late 19th Century duo Son of Town Hall. Having written two books and sung on a few EDM tracks, he’s effectively a cottage industry. Perhaps what is most striking, though, is the sheer honesty of his music. The ten songs comprising A Pail Full of Fire create stunning moments using the simplest of elements.
Producer Todd Sickafoose plays piano and acoustic bass, Rich Hinman adds pedal steel and electric guitar (and acoustic guitar on one track), Anna Tivel adds vocals, and Berkeley sings and plays acoustic guitar and classical guitar. We get songs of truth and beauty recorded over four days from those simple instruments. A certain kind of telepathy goes on to create this kind of magic virtually on the spot.
Polished until they shine like diamonds, these tunes reveal a man who looks at life and longing, the passage of time and the shape of love while marvelling at his children growing up and attempting to hold on to those parts of the past that ring true even as the world continues to speed up. He finds beauty in moments and seems to understand exactly how much they matter.
Yet Berkeley finds a way to turn those songs around in the most wondrous ways. Wild Gods sums up the hardest of times while still finding a way to look at the wonder surrounding two people. “This was the year our fathers fell down/ All that we once held lay broke upon the ground/ And the crowds they disappeared, the scaffold removed/ The circle was drawn around me and you.” Despite the sadness, there are still ways to hope, “With all our different fears and all our different fights/ And all the time we waste in this our only life/ So beat on fragile heart and blow howling wind/ Cause every moment, dear, a new world begins.” And amidst the guitars, piano and bass, there are reasons to find joy in those moments.
Leavening those flashes of delight are the everyday notions of life, good, bad and indifferent. Despite it all, love seems to conquer all. “And the kids get older, and times get tight/ Some things feel wrong that once felt right/ Yeah, but that’s our story/ That’s what makes love real/ You come back together and help each other heal.” Across the times and tides of life, Berkeley finds ways to rejoice in the reality of being in love and staying in love despite all the challenges people face. It’s not often one comes across a musician of the calibre of David Berkeley or an album as pure as A Pail Full of Fire. It springs from a place of honesty where words and music still matter. This is an album for the ages.
A Pail Full of Fire (6th September 2024) Straw Man
Bandcamp: https://davidberkeley.bandcamp.com/album/a-pail-full-of-fire
