Josh Ritter – So Runs The World Away (Pytheas Recordings)
Hailing from Moscow, Idaho, Josh shrugged off his hand me down destiny of academia and swapped the books for an acoustic guitar to followed in the footsteps of Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen to name a few.
He made his first record for $1000,followed it up with The Golden Age of Radio, Hello Starling and then The Animal Years. Each record developed on the last, getting fuller in sound all with great melodies and mix of storytelling and personal narrative. Cinematic by either accident or design, his albums took to ’70s middle America.
With The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter he made a much richer sounding record. Keeping the personal narrative(for the most part) he made an optimistic sounding record with elements of real sadness. Songs expanded to become at times disjointed but never unmelodic. The drums became a key part of the album and he through in a good helping of organ, piano and brass for good measure. He made an album that let him develop and grow but still stayed true to his folk roots.
So Runs The World Away is a natural next step. This is a decidedly dark offering, focusing much more on folk myths and legends. This is a storytellers record and really shows his imagination working overtime. Mixing ballads and flowing melodies with a bitter dark this is a record that is wrapped in poetry and sealed with Ritter’s trademark depth. Unlike Historical Conquests this is minor key record with moments in the major.
It’s not all doom and gloom however, tracks like Lark and Lantern are a nice change of pace from the underlying darkness on songs like Folk Bloodbath.
Drums are dramatic, guitars muffled and tinny and distorted vocals, when used, really work. The melodies are a mix of traditional Ritter but some are successfully pulled over from his last album. Although Simon and Garfunkel’s influence is apparent at various parts of the album, you know as ever you are listening to Josh Ritter. Dramatic throughout this is a great album that you don’t have to be a long time fan to enjoy.
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[...] Ritter has been one of my favourite songwriters for years and as you can tell from the review, I am a fan. Getting the chance to interview him, albeit over the phone, was a [...]
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