At a
time when the new music scene is dominated by an increasingly tiresome
abundance of Mumford-esque folk-rock and semi-acoustic troubadour soloists, you
might be forgiven for dismissing Dry the River as yet another band of
rustically adorned twenty-somethings towing a second hand tractor over already
trodden land.
The
growth of mainstream folk, facilitated by recent Fleet Foxes/Laura Marling/Ben
Howard-shaped successes, is certainly in danger of stagnating due to a lack of
variation. Step forward Peter Liddle and co., a quintet who fuse traditional
folk with post-punk energy – and the tunes to match.
‘New
Ceremony’ displays as much, with its acoustic opening bursting triumphantly
into a raucous chorus. Several tracks build in this fashion, ‘Weights &
Measures’ being one of many highlights. The resulting sense of drama is supplemented
by Will Harvey on violin, but never does an orchestral addition hamper the
underlying rawness of the LP. Clearly a tight unit, subtle vocal harmonies and
intricate guitar melodies ensure this album is one you’ll be listening to track
after track, again and again. The seamless transition of the haunting ‘Demons’
into the rousing ‘Bible Belt’ renders shuffling counter-productive; this is an
album constructed as one whole, not eleven parts.
Lyrically,
Liddle bamboozles, often deliberately. Speaking of the writing process, he
recalled struggling to find a two-syllable word for a line in ‘The Chambers
& The Valves’. Opening the floor to the rest of the band, who were locked
in a drunken game of frisbee outside (as you do), drummer Jon Warren offered the
made-up ‘frission’, which was immediately corrected and incorporated: “I was lost
in the fission before you came”. Conversely, the seemingly simplistic yet
beautifully pure “I loved you in the best way possible” elevates ‘No Rest’ to a
euphoric zenith. Elsewhere, biblical references galore hook the songs back to
their folk roots, most evident in the stripped back ‘Shaker Hymns’.
It’s
not all faultless, though. The aforementioned ‘The Chambers & The Valves’
grows but does feel like a contrived attempt at a catchy single. In some places
there is a hint of overproduction, palpable in comparison to earlier EP
versions.
Rarely
does this detract from the raw drama and purity of Shallow Bed, however, and with enchanting live performances to
boot, it seems Dry the River have put themselves in good stead for life after
today’s folk fad. Closer ‘Lion’s Den’, nothing short of epic, is indicative of
this.
Oh,
and the bassist has an amazing beard.
9/10
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