Solid bluegrass-tinged folk from a virtuosic quartet.
Based in Minneapolis, this is the third album from The Last Revel since the trio, now a quartet, reconvened in 2021, their sixth in total. It is impossible not to compare the vocals of Lee Henke with those of Marcus Mumford, and doubtless fans of that man’s band will find much to enjoy among these ten tracks.
Opener ‘Solid Gone’ (“watched the bonfire burn and burn”) has an emphatic fiddle part from Vinnie Donatelle, which is bettered on ‘Go On’, another hyperactive barnbuster with the hook “with or without you”. The band have a busy year on the road, and songs like these will do further wonders for their reputation.
They can also slow things down appreciably. Ryan Acker’s banjo underscores ‘Jealousy’, whose lead vocals are sung by an uncredited female vocalist whose voice flutters throughout as she personifies the emotion with its “sense of humour and twist of hair, there’s darkness in your eyes”. The same singer also provides harmonies on the gorgeous ‘Porcelain’: “I know it hurts but there’s nothing worth dying for,” sighs Henke, emphasising the line in the final chorus.
‘Static’ is grounded in three chords and a repeated chorus of “why are we so clumsy and manic?”, which is the precise opposite of the calm mood of the song. ‘Holy Moly’ (“life is a feather, we float away”) has a similar tenor until a brief few bars where the music seems to go haywire before it settles back in a good groove.
‘Simple Wheel’ is a meditation on time passing with a clap-along beat driven by Henke’s acoustic guitar. ‘Wait Up’ is a buoyant love song (“I did my time”) with room for some ferocious solo passages. ‘Tall Grass’ also has a theme of a “quiet romance…a dancing flame”, with another fine solo from Donatelle, while on the warm ‘Until Death’, Henke declares “I will live for you” as a kicker in an excellent chorus.
With music this skilfully made, it’s easiest to sit back and let the sounds wash over you.
