An album release from The River Salt delivers a very lush and rustic soundscape but with a punk undertone intertwined with this folk soundscape and it feels great to listen to because it comes along with this massive persona that you end up really loving.
The Driftwood album speaks volumes for the bands and delivers such a unique energy that it feels like some of these songs were recorded live because of the way that all the players involved seem to feed off of each other the entire time delivering this alive and breathing type of vibe.
The instrumentation is outstandingly lost and features banjo, acoustic guitar, horns, and everything else you can imagine just rolled into this intense and super honest record which is another thing that I really love about it.
Lyrically, this record bursts with that honesty and this is part of what builds on that persona but as it's happening you get such a wonderfully eclectic set of songs that deliver gorgeous harmonies, intense and animated vocals, and stories that you can relate to as a human.
I adore this approach because you have this sort of graceful grittiness throughout the record and those two elements seem to complement each other so insanely well that it's a little mind blowing.
This record is bursting with color, but it's blended with an edginess that keeps everything super well balanced.
You have beautiful progressions done with vigor and the performance by all parts seems to be always intense.
The banjo and the guitars are slammed, the tambourines are banged, the vocals are belting and there's also this male and female vocal set that comes in a lot which gives a whole different layer to the way the songs are formulated.
You also have crowd vocals that you end up wanting to chant along with and the whole thing just comes through with a particular character and with that character comes a lot of heart which is what you hear most throughout this album.
Each of the players in this band are clearly old souls that are giving everything they have to this music and that's why it comes through feeling so lively and so vivacious.
This is a group of musicians who have a pure love for their craft and when I say that I don't just mean playing guitar, banjo, percussion, or singing, I mean writing songs together that make sense, that you can understand, and then make you feel something, and putting that out into the world for everyone else along with themselves.
This record is absolutely thriving and comes through full-bodied and lush as songs are impactful and deliver certain surprises around some corners.
This is one album I can say that you want to listen to from beginning to end all the way through because listening to just one or two tracks me give you a glimpse of what to expect, but it doesn't give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer.
I understand we live in a single-based society these days but I think that's a shame honestly.
This is because we have bands like The River Salt who are delivering full albums that have a lot to say and have a lot to give and I think that that is what art is all about.
Give this album a spin and don't be afraid to turn it up because the louder you turn it somehow, the better it feels.
You'll end up singing along with this record by the second time around guaranteed.
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