Staff Reviews

Red River Dialect - Tender Gold & Gentle Blue

Review by Ben Philpott

A beautifully composed album and one which frequently feels like a blessing»

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Red River Dialect formed in Falmouth, Cornwall in 2009. Initially a duo, the band expanded to a five piece psych-folk outfit, releasing the critically acclaimed "awellupontheway" in 2012. That record drew comparisons to Fairport Convention, Dirty Three, the Waterboys, Arbouretum & Nick Cave, but on their new record "Tender Gold & Gentle Blue" the band takes leave of the swirling electrified balladry of "awellupontheway". These new songs, all based around the acoustic guitar and vocals of songwriter David Morris, are augmented by cello, violin, piano, vibraphones and banjo. Tender Gold and Gentle Blue began life as a solo record, a document of the experience of grief and sudden loss as it unfolded over the spring. This unfolding brought the band together, shaping a new Red River Dialect record. Every song on the record speaks of some kind of loss, and of some kind of reconciliation too. They don't say that losses can always be reconciled, just that these experiences can co-exist and speak to one another. The tone is open, warm, flecked with lights and shimmering. All the songs are close to bodies: either human, astral, or of water and rock. Recorded at home, sounds of that shelter can be found glinting, amidst the bright and airy atmosphere. The use of a stereo mic, designed for panoramic field recordings, enfolds the feel of a cool room on quiet summer mornings. The band have shared bills with Steve Gunn, Six Organs of Admittance, Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler, Michael Chapman, The Black Twig Pickers, and toured with the New Bums last June. They will tour in July in support of this record.
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