3/29/2023 0 Comments Nathaniel rateliff albums![]() ![]() With the industry so focused on the ‘single’ so much, it would seem that the art of making a solid continuous album feels to have been lost. So, with the sophomore release, Tearing at the Seams, out Friday, Mathrough Stax, how will they fare? As they say, however, “You have your whole life to write your first record,” the follow-up usually is where so many bands lose their audience. ![]() Songs such as “S.O.B.” and “I Never Get Old” have the perfect recipe of mixing Folk, Blues, and Rock of old while adding a dash of modern approach to make a perfect introduction. Whether the stars were all in alignment or just an underlining need for something real, they delivered a self titled debut that took sounds from some of music’s best eras and delivered it in such manner that everyone inspired and hooked from the word go. In 2013, with lifetime brother in arms Joseph Pope III (bass), Rateliff & The Night Sweats formed along with Mark Shusterman (keyboards), Patrick Meese (drums), Luke Mossman (guitar), Wesley Watkins (trumpet), and Andy Wild (saxophone) a project that has since changed their lives forever. As he evolved through projects such as Born in the Flood and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel, he slowly started heading down a path to his final product while slowly building a collection of visionary artists to work with. Rateliff himself has been carving through Denver, CO through the years, bringing new projects to the public, trying to find the right platform to reach audiences. Hard not to look on one’s TV or read the news and see a world of strife and division, Rateliff and company have come to raise all those willing to listen above that. In times of great strife and bleak outlooks, artists such a Muddy Waters, James Brown, Elvis, Howling Wolf, and the whole Motown stable of musicians raised the very hearts of countless listeners above so many tragedies. In the days of electronic Dance music, overproduced ‘Rock’ records, and almost a phobia of stripping down one’s sound Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats have come to save art’s soul. As generations progress in age, many forget the best parts of days past, even missing the opportunity to mold into something new. Before one can even blink, they are wrapped in the modern fashions, sounds, music, technology, fads, etc. “Something Ain’t Right” begins with driving Beatles-esque piano as he sings, “Gotta dig a lotta holes to get into something deep.” Later in the song, he seems to comment on his newfound fame, offering, “Part of me feels I’ve arrived, but sometimes it don’t align.It is often easy to get carried away in the very era one lives in. The album’s best and most original moments arrive with Rateliff’s incisive lyricism. Rateliff’s characteristic wordplay feels strangely ominous as he sings with an understated, almost nonchalant melody, “I’m afraid that the weight of the world is catching up with you/ I’m afraid to admit that it’s catching up to me, too.” Gritty guitar stabs slice over tubby bass. “Survivor” sounds like The Black Keys, who of course sound like Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters and a huge swath of African American musical geniuses. The Future sounds like a band at play, unleashed in a new studio and isolated because of the pandemic, exploring the musical influences it’s always loved. This departing from familiar territory and paying tribute to key influences on the first song sets the tone for the rest of the album. The song feels different from anything else in Rateliff’s oeuvre, a word he likely never imagined being applied to his musical output. The title track ends with some honky-tonk piano, but doesn’t really feel like a Night Sweats song without some horn blasts. Rateliff holds the syllable of the word “seen” with the resolute defiance of a young Robert Zimmerman. “Is the future open?/ Is the future seen?” he sings. The opening title track begins with acoustic and pedal steel guitars before Rateliff’s voice suddenly emerges, nasally and surprisingly Dylan-esque. ![]()
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