Biography
Phil Sutton records graceful indie pop under the name Love, Burns, infusing the romantic core with pointed political urgency. After years playing in like-minded indie rock groups that stretch from Comet Gain to the Pale Lights, he assumes full creative control for the first time on the 2022 album It Should Have Been Tomorrow.
Sutton launched his career in London as the drummer in Comet Gain’s original lineup, active from 1992 through 1997. A brief stint in Velocette preceded the formation of Kicker, where he handled songwriting and vocals in a comparable vein; the band continued until his mid-2000s relocation to the United States. Once settled, he assembled the Soft City to sustain his vision of reflective, jangling pop, producing a handful of singles and an LP before the group disbanded following the departure of most members from New York.
Reconvening with new musicians as the Pale Lights, he resumed the same trajectory, issuing numerous singles plus the albums Before There Were Pictures in 2014 and The Stars Seemed Brighter in 2017. While the Pale Lights released a single in 2020, Sutton began solo work as Love, Burns. Collaborating with Gary Olson, ex-Ladybug Transistor, at Marlborough Farms studio in Brooklyn and with Kyle Forester at home, he introduced the eight-song Fiftieth and Marlborough mini-album in 2020. The style recalled a Lloyd Cole-type crooner fronting a Sarah Records band, though the lyrics grew more introspective and at times overtly political.
Later singles brought in drummer Hampus Öhman-Frölund and guitarist Ben Phillipson, who had previously played with Sutton in Kicker. The same core musicians appear on It Should Have Been Tomorrow, joined by additional contributions from ex-Kicker member Laura Bridge, Alicia Jeanine of the Jeannines, and Hewson Chen of Lake Ruth. The album appeared in early 2022 on Sutton’s Calico Cat label in conjunction with Jigsaw Records, Austin Town Hall Records, and Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten in Germany.
Sutton launched his career in London as the drummer in Comet Gain’s original lineup, active from 1992 through 1997. A brief stint in Velocette preceded the formation of Kicker, where he handled songwriting and vocals in a comparable vein; the band continued until his mid-2000s relocation to the United States. Once settled, he assembled the Soft City to sustain his vision of reflective, jangling pop, producing a handful of singles and an LP before the group disbanded following the departure of most members from New York.
Reconvening with new musicians as the Pale Lights, he resumed the same trajectory, issuing numerous singles plus the albums Before There Were Pictures in 2014 and The Stars Seemed Brighter in 2017. While the Pale Lights released a single in 2020, Sutton began solo work as Love, Burns. Collaborating with Gary Olson, ex-Ladybug Transistor, at Marlborough Farms studio in Brooklyn and with Kyle Forester at home, he introduced the eight-song Fiftieth and Marlborough mini-album in 2020. The style recalled a Lloyd Cole-type crooner fronting a Sarah Records band, though the lyrics grew more introspective and at times overtly political.
Later singles brought in drummer Hampus Öhman-Frölund and guitarist Ben Phillipson, who had previously played with Sutton in Kicker. The same core musicians appear on It Should Have Been Tomorrow, joined by additional contributions from ex-Kicker member Laura Bridge, Alicia Jeanine of the Jeannines, and Hewson Chen of Lake Ruth. The album appeared in early 2022 on Sutton’s Calico Cat label in conjunction with Jigsaw Records, Austin Town Hall Records, and Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten in Germany.
Albums