I only just heard of Peter Burns of Kill Shelter this summer, when his noise guitar work enlivened a cover of Ultravox’s “Dislocation” by Stephen Netschio and A State OF Flux. And now he’s apparently stepping out of his comfort zone for a spontaneous EP of what he’s describing as “electroacoustic works” in a larger series of which this is the first volume. It was released Friday on DL and a cassette edition but I finally got to hear it on Saturday as I was at work and able to play it there on a day where I was the only one in the office and I wanted to share news of this one as quickly as I could.

Kill Shelter: Slow Burn Sorrow – UK – DL/CASS [2025]

1. I Don’t Believe in You 4:38
2. In the Long Grass 2:29
3. Late November 2:30
4. A Gift of Ashes 3:32
5. Victims of Fate 2:42
6. Say 3:18
7. Slow Burn Sorrow 2:54

It began with a cover version of Talk Talk’s “I Don’t Believe In You” that might be setting the tone for the entire EP here. The whole piece of work was made with just guitars and minimal rhythm box so the emphasis is definitely on guitars with long sustain creating vast, reverberant acoustic spaces. He’s recorded only the scantest of overdubs here to keep the performance as direct as possible. As I’m shamefully less than complete in my Talk Talk collection, I’ve never heard “The Colour Of Spring” in its entirety. So I cannot compare it to the original. But once Mr. Burns begins singing the wounded, scornful lyric, I could not help but notice his assumption of the vocal stance of David Sylvian.

But this was a clear, focused work that pared production down to the bare minimum. Voice and guitar. When a shimmering wave of guitar effects suddenly rose in the mix as if a string section were on the session, it carried a dramatic magnification of emphasis; as if this had been a Scott Walker session. The drop where the drum machine was all we heard, like a subdued heartbeat for two bars, felt like the world had suddenly come to a halt. This was then followed by a solo twinned with what felt like e-bow too amplify the gut-punch of the song.

The crystal cascade of Burn’s guitar was spellbinding on “In The Long Grass” as he occupied a tone in the Robin Guthrie realm. The rhythm box here was more than a minimal presence but it was still all about the guitars as the shimmering climax to the song proved. “Late November” explored a pensive mood with the weave of guitars spinning sonic cocoon designed to heal as Mr. Burns proclaimed “these last few days I’ve been wandering, trying to find some piece of mind.” The waves of guitar continued to spread outward until the climax, where the first instances her of distortion dared to disrupt the reflective mood. Ending the song on a dissonant note.

The closest thing to a widescreen sound here manifested in the swelling intro to “A Gift Of Ashes.” With the rhythm box and guitar overdubs expanding the footprint of the song ever outward and upward. This was truly the heart of the beauty to be found in this exploratory EP.

The title track closed out the mini-album with a final focus on the purity of voice and guitars to channel the series of brief haikus of hurt that were “Slow Burn Sorrow.” Only the Talk Talk cover broke the four minute barrier here. The rest of the material was quite succinct and left one wanting more. Never a bad thing in this business called “show.” Making the “Slow Burn Sorrow” EP into a coherent project that eked out new artistic paths for Pete Burns; who was apparently concerned about the fan reaction to work of such a different nature.

He need not have worried. This music is redolent of David Sylvian, Robin Guthrie, and Robert Fripp as stylistic touchstones of a high water mark. With perhaps the vibe of This Mortal Coil and the ghost of Scott Walker to be glimpsed in the shadows; hovering over it all. Fans of music to be felt are in for a treat. The Bandcamp DL is £6.00 with the physical covered by a cassette edition of 49 to be shipping on November 11th for £12.00. I’m looking forward to hearing the future volumes in this series, so DJ hit that button!

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