British blues rock duo WHEN RIVERS MEET‘s new sophomore album is released via the band’s independent label One Road Records on Friday November 19th 2021.
Grace Bond (vocals, mandolin and violin) and Aaron Bond (vocals, guitar) create authentic rootsy sounds that sparkle with edginess and incorporate vocals that nod respectfully to Anne Bredon’s folk-style.
We thought their debut album We Fly Free delivered “shadowish riffs” and “sparkled with edginess…” and we highly praised it, comparing it to the work of Gillian Welch / David Rawlings.
WHEN RIVERS MEET are the first British Blues band to win four awards in the same year! They achieved the accolade at the UK Blues Awards, held in London, 2021.
As with their previous album and two EPs, the new album was recorded at the Boathouse in Suffolk with producer and engineer, Adam Bowers.
“Can’t Fight This Feeling” is about how emotions & passions can hook a person in and, perhaps, even entangle them. It’s a rusty, firm stomp with steamy vocals and the kind of phlegmatic ferrite guitar that creates a howl right inside your heart!
The classic rock style “Never Coming Home” is augmented by a clever slide mandolin and has a certain gruffness that reminds us of the translucence of Big Brother and the Holding Company. It’s filled with fervour, ardour and electric flammability!
“He’ll Drive You Crazy” speaks about unwavering love and features cigar box guitar and is packed with stringy vibrations and baccy-box beats. The paperbark vocals pierce through the interlocking spurs of corroded jangle to bring a razor-ribboned basket of diabolical nervousness. Wow!
“Testify” has a submetallic scratchbrush guitar and, with the infestation of spatulate rhythms, the voice splits into the tonal architecture like a wounded highlander wielding one last rusty hack. In other words, this is brave, unrepentant and fearless.
The heavy rock “Make A Grown Man Cry” was apparently tracked 30 feet above the ground, in the cradled arms of an oak tree! Unsurprisingly, it’s a bass-heavy shellcracker with a stubborn attitude and a hearty, hearty voice. Yep, this is smart, suffocating, and tigerish hot!
For fans of: Kill It Kid
Words: @neilmach 2021 ©
Photo credit: Rob Blackham
Pre-order the album from the band’s own site, here: https://shop.whenriversmeet.co.uk/
RAW RAMP 