Sam Burton has signed to Captured Tracks and announced his third solo album, Fairweather Friend, due October 30th. The Palestinian-American singer-songwriter has shared the Jonathan Wilson-produced lead single, I’m A Stranger, alongside a video by Otium.
“The song sits somewhere between nostalgia and alienation,” Burton says. “It’s more of a feeling than a statement. There is no home to go back to.”
The move to Captured Tracks marks a new chapter for Burton, whose previous albums — I Can Go With You (2020, Tompkins Square) and Dear Departed (2023, Partisan) — established him as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary folk. Wilson, who produced Dear Departed at his Topanga Canyon studio, returns behind the desk here, though part of the album was also cut without a producer at drummer Pierce Gibson’s Echo Park studio, Recorders, in a more communal, band-led session.
Fairweather Friend began in the aftermath of a serious car accident while Burton was on tour. He’d been driving — the accident wasn’t his fault, but the guilt lingered, and the healing process bonded him to his bandmates. When that project split, Burton left for a series of solo tours, including a North American run supporting Aldous Harding, and began writing with stripped-down performance in mind, studying solo work by Neil Young and Bert Jansch. He spent several months on a farm near Humboldt in Northern California, where he wrote nearly half the album.
Burton joins Widowspeak for UK and European dates this November, starting at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club on November 12th, with stops in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, London and Paris.
UK/EU Tour Dates:
11/12 – Leeds, UK – Brundenell Social Club ^
11/13 – Dublin, IE – Workmans Club ^
11/15 – Glasgow, UK – The Rum Shack ^
11/16 – Manchester, UK – YES (Pink Room) ^
11/17 – London, UK – Scala ^
11/18 – Lile, FR – La Bulle ^
11/19 – Paris, FR – LePopUp! ^
^ supporting Widowspeak