Son Volt - Electro Melodier | LTD LP

IT’S A NEW WORLD, THIS IS THE LIFE/THESE ARE THE TIMES
2020 was not quite what Jay Farrar was expecting for the 25th anniversary of Son Volt, the band he started in 1995 after
leaving the seminal group Uncle Tupelo, whose No Depression album helped define the alt-country and Americana genre.
The group had just finished an Outlaw Country Cruise when the pandemic hit and sent them into their homes on lockdown.
Instead of a triumphant tour marking the illustrious landmark, Farrar was forced indoors by the pandemic, and his “Reverie”
during that time helped define Electro Melodier, Son Volt’s 10th studio album – and third for influential Nashville indie
Thirty Tigers. The title, taken from the names of two vintage amplifiers from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, also describes the
disc’s unique blend of folk, country, blues, soul and rock – an electric troubadour with melodies that hit and stick. Social
protest songs like “Living in the U.S.A.” and “The Globe,” the former about the promises of this nation gone wrong, the latter
referencing the street protests accompanying the Black Lives Matter movement, exist side by side with odes to long-term
relationships (specifically his 25-year marriage) in “Diamonds and Cigarettes” and “Lucky Ones.”
Once again accompanied by the current Son Volt line up – keyboardist/steel guitarist Mark Spencer, bassist Andrew
Duplantis, guitarist Chris Frame and drummer Mark Patterson – Farrar takes a slight turn from 2019’s politically pointed
Union to a series of songs that asks questions rather than demanding answers – think of “Living in the U.S.A.” as Farrar’s
version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” or Patti Smith’s “People Have
the Power,” an anthem to unite the populace.

Tracklist

1. Reverie
2. Arkey Blue
3. The Globe
4. Diamonds and Cigarettes
5. Lucky Ones
6. War on Misery
7. Living In The USA
8. Someday Is Now
9. Sweet Refrain
10. The Levee On Down
11. These Are The Times
12. Rebetika
13. The Globe / Prelude
14. Like You