Staff Reviews

Josh Ritter - So Runs the World Away

Review by Rob Lane

Josh Ritter is a man with plenty to say.»

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'so runs the world away', is the new album from renowned singer-songwriter josh ritter. this is the fifth full-length recording from ritter, who has been widely heralded by critics and fans alike. of the idaho-native, paste magazine declares, 'put simply, ritter is the most gifted interpreter of americana, as an arranger and a lyricist, working today.' recorded over 15 months at the great north sound society in maine, with additional recording at brooklyn's saltlands studio, 'so runs the world away' continues ritter's longtime collaboration with producer and keyboard player sam kassirer. additionally, the album features the return of ritter's core line-up of touring bandmates: zack hickman, austin nevins and liam hurley. of the record, ritter says, "i think of the songs on 'so runs the world away' like pictures painted in oil on large canvasses. it's a record preoccupied with the extremes of scale, from infinitesimal particles to the nearly incomprehensible distances between the head of a pin and a nebula. where the songs felt large to me, i wanted them to be huge, both musically and lyrically. i wanted them to feel like the steel hulls of massive ships sliding by deeply from below. where they were small, i concentrated in on the smallest details that i could and we tried to make the music and the words work together. i love writing, and this was the most fulfilling record i've yet written."
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