Pop/Folk - Contemplative, introspective and with all the power of a hushed whisper, Canadian singer/songwriter Barzin gets to the core of his sublimely personal songs with an economy of effortless understatement. Third album Notes To An Absent Lover is short (31 minutes) but filled with weighty melancholy, both stylistically and lyrically, a project that manages to be as sweepingly dramatic as a one man theatrical tragedy and as simple as a well-turned phrase. Confessional and soulsearching after a failed relationship, the Toronto performer has delivered what one critic has described as "flawless...gorgeous and poignant...a dreamy, elegant stunner." (Exclaim)

Since his eponymous 2003 debut, Barzin has elevated his fragile voice to a thing of shadowed beauty, creating emotive musical sketches fleshed out with lushly orchestrated production. Notes is a more stripped personal affair with apt comparisons to the tender side of Damien Rice's trendsetting masterpiece O. New Barzin songs such as "Stayed In This Place Too Long" and "Tangled In Blue" are bathed in a moody reflective light, mournful steel guitar, cellos and reverbed guitar lines filling in the wide open spaces with muted color. Recommended. Watch the video for "Nobody Told Me" after the jump...

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"Nobody Told Me" - video (from the album Notes To An Absent Lover)