Diego Philips - Burning Pieces

Diego Philips

Burning Pieces
self-released; 2014

3.5 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

A young, adventurous musician with a dynamic worldview is the mastermind behind Burning Pieces. Diego Philips is from Belgium but has called places like Spain and Japan home and is a huge fan of American authors and musicians. Some of the greats that Philips says greatly influence his music are Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Elliott Smith. You can feel these impacts within Burning Pieces as the songs within it are all poetic and soothing in nature and carry a natural and simple yet sophisticated air of music rooted in the folk genre. 

The name of the album Burning Pieces is an ode to his favorite American author Charles Bukowski who said you can only create great things under fire. The opening track on the album titled “I Need You/ I Want You,” starts off with a beautiful and compelling instrumental guitar chord. The song is about love and is mixed with a little bit of religion or existential searching if you will; “I need you to take me to the holy land, and I want you to feed me milk and honey babe.”

A song shrouded in passion and an upbeat spirit is “A Change is Gonna Come.” The song starts with a nice guitar chord that pulls you in and the rest of the song is anchored by catchy lyrics; “would you mind singing with me, cause a change is gonna come.” Again this is a song about love or perhaps more so lust and showcases some interesting pick-up lines; “I heard you were a good girl… would you mind sleeping with me? cause a change is gonna come.” There is an energetic guitar breakdown toward the end that really settles the song into a hip and happening place of fun, carefree vibes where “something’s gonna change.”

Burning Pieces is filled with poetic and striking music that stays true to the young musician’s influence behind the album. The album was recorded and mixed at a studio in Brussels and the sound quality is commendable. Even though the music sounds American in style, there is still that international flair which is embodied by Philip’s slight accent that peaks through the lyrics at times. All of which make Burning Pieces a great and entertaining listen.

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