Staff Reviews

Richmond Fontaine - The High Country

Review by Aaron Lavery

If you ignore the plotline, there’s plenty of enjoyment to be found in The High Country. »

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an operatically tragic tale is told in richmond fontaine's tenth studio album, 'the high country.' more than a concept piece, the portland, oregon four-piece have crafted a song-novel, in which a gripping tale is spun with fully fleshed-out characters, changing scenes, snippets of radio and spoken word passages. it's a spectacularly unique album housed in a digi-pack with full 8 page colour booklet on dcor records (chuck prophet, mark eitzel) richmond fontaine's frontman, willy vlautin, is a published novelist whose 2006 debut, the motel life, has just been turned into a major motion directed by the polsky brothers and starring dakota fanning, stephen dorff and kris kristofferson. with richmond fontaine's latest album, he's combined that story-telling prowess with his songwriting gift to stunning effect. from stark, romantic ballads & dialogue sequences to raw northwest garage rock and cinematic songscapes, this album sees fontaine's musical trajectory soar far beyond their cowpunk roots, ably assisted by producer john askew.
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