Peace...Like A River

ギタリスト、ウォーレン・ヘインズ率いるアメリカン・サザン・ロック・ジャム・バンド、Gov't Muleのニューアルバムがリリース!

先行シングルはfeat. Ivan Neville & Ruthie Fosterの "Dreaming Out Loud"。
この曲は、キング牧師、ロバート・ケネディ、ジョン・F・ケネディ、公民権運動の指導者である故ジョン・ルイスの言葉を引用している。

本作はグラミー賞にノミネートされた2021年リリースのブルース・アルバム『Heavy Load Blues』ビーロード・ブルース』に続く、バンドにとって12作目のスタジオ・アルバム。
12曲を収録したこのアルバムには、ビリー・ボブ・ソーントン、セリス、ビリー・F・ギボンズなどのゲストもフィーチャー!

この新作は、『Heavy Load Blues』同様、The Power Station New Englandでのセッションでレコーディングされ、共同プロデューサーのJohn Paterno(エルヴィス・コステロ、ボニー・レイット、ロス・ロボス)がヘインズと共に参加している夏にぴったりの乾いたロック・サウンドを堪能できる作品。

Though sounding completely different from one another, Govt Mules Peace...Like a River is a companion album to 2021s Heavy Load Blues. The dates were actually recorded simultaneously in different spaces inside the same studio. In different rooms, the band -- guitarist / vocalist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, bassist Jorgen Carlsson, and keyboardist Danny Louis -- and co-producer John Paterno set up two entirely different recording areas with amps, guitars, keys, and microphones, with the intention of giving each album its own sonic and musical identity. While Heavy Load Blues is an epic blues-rock date, Peace...Like a River is a labyrinthine trek through original songs that nod at the bands classic rock influences, creating an album that sounds like it was written and recorded during the 1970s. Opener "Same as It Ever Was" offers poetic lyrics about lifes difficulties and revelations during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. The fingerpicked lead guitar, psychedelic production, lilting melody, and thunderous rhythm section crescendo buoy Haynes emotionally resonant vocal. "Shake Our Way Out" is an exercise thundering, riff-centric, distorted blues-rock with Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top) joining on second guitar and vocals. While "Made My Peace" introduces itself as a midtempo, swaggering blues boogie, it quickly shifts gears to reflect Pink Floyds deep influence on Govt Mule. The vocal harmonies, melody, and dynamics recall both the Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here eras. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a jazzy rock cum R&B production. Ruthie Foster and Ivan Neville join the crew for the souled-out, steamy, bluesy, jazzy, NOLA-inspired funk on the poignant "Dreaming Out Loud" complete with soaring horns. Its lyrics were compiled from writings and speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, congressman/activist John Lewis and John F. Kennedy. Billy Bob Thornton contributes vocals to the swampy, spooky dubwise reggae of "The River Only Flows One Way." "After the Storm" cooks, but its just a little too derivative of the L.A. Woman-era Doors due to Haynes trying too hard to imitate Jim Morrison in the first verse. That said, Louis fine organ work owes more to the exploratory grooves of Larry Young and Garth Hudson than Ray Manzarek. "Just Across the River" is a slow-rolling, R&B-inflected blues featuring excellent playing and singing from New York-based guitarist and vocalist Celisse Henderson (Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell). "Long Time Coming" is a righteous, horn-drenched, soul-blues rave-up with a powerful vocal from Haynes. Peace...Like a River closes with the slide guitar Southern-fried rock of "Gone Too Long," which nods simultaneously at Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Lynyrd Skynyrd. This set reaffirms Govt Mules place as one of the most musical, stylistically ambitious bands out there. ~ Thom Jurek