Gov’t Mule – Peace…Like A River (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:28 minutes | 1,56 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Fantasy
Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. On Peace Like A River, the heady and hard-hitting new album from Gov’t Mule, that intrinsic, age-old paradox appears to solve itself. Over 12 songs and 70 minutes of music, the Southern rock mainstays changes shape, raises the temperature, and transfers kinetic, heart-pulsing energy from one track to the next in often unexpected and highly rewarding ways. Mule approached this album, with the adventurousness and vitality of band that recognizes freedom is never free and a reckoning isn’t far away.Produced by Warren Haynes and John Paterno and recorded at the Power Station New England, Peace Like A River follows the band’s acclaimed 2021 LP, Heavy Load Blues. It’s remarkable synthesis of songs and musicality (all written by Haynes except for two, full-band penned tracks) that toggles between thundering heavy rock, electric blues, soul, funk, spoken word, English chamber-folk, and psychedelia; enhanced by a fascinating assortment of contributing artists including, Billy Gibbons, Ivan Neville, Ruthie Foster, Billy Bob Thornton, and Celisse.
Though sounding completely different from one another, Gov’t Mule’s Peace…Like a River is a companion album to 2021’s 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 band’s 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 life’s 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 Floyd’s deep influence on Gov’t 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 it’s 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 Gov’t Mule’s place as one of the most musical, stylistically ambitious bands out there. – Thom Jurek
Tracklist:
1-1. Gov’t Mule – Same As It Ever Was (06:44)
1-2. Gov’t Mule – Shake Our Way Out (06:23)
1-3. Gov’t Mule – Made My Peace (09:07)
1-4. Gov’t Mule – Peace I Need (07:21)
1-5. Gov’t Mule – Your Only Friend (05:59)
1-6. Gov’t Mule – Dreaming Out Loud (04:38)
1-7. Gov’t Mule – Head Full Of Thunder (04:35)
1-8. Gov’t Mule – The River Only Flows One Way (07:21)
1-9. Gov’t Mule – After The Storm (06:24)
1-10. Gov’t Mule – Just Across The River (05:18)
1-11. Gov’t Mule – Long Time Coming (05:19)
1-12. Gov’t Mule – Gone Too Long (07:15)
