Debut album from blues/rock pair When Rivers Meet out 20 November 2020
Since launching onto the Blues scene with their debut record ‘The Uprising EP’ in April 2019, Grace and Aaron Bond have been going from strength to strength. The British husband and wife duo have an ever-growing online fan base and have gained the attention of Cerys Matthews’ The Blues Show on BBC Radio 2. Their unique vocal-led approach to song writing, dirty electric guitar, slide resonator mandolin and fiddle create a unique contemporary blues rock sound that echoes 1970s classic rock with hints of the 1930s blues that inspire them.
Their follow up EP ‘Innocence Of Youth’ was released in May 2020 and with the release of their debut full-length studio album scheduled for release in November 2020.
Before lockdown, the duo toured the UK in their self-converted VW camper with an impressive tour schedule. Since the lockdown, the duo organised ‘Rockin' The Lockdown’ - weekly Facebook live streams, attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Their passion for blues rock shows through with an underpinning of traditional blues and classic rock. The duo have made a concerted effort to keep to a genuine, gritty sound using authentic techniques, including tube tape echo and reverb chambers, which have created a live sound that keeps a truly vintage vibe that not only has energy but is also a true representation of the ever evolving sound this duo produces.
Grace sings lead vocal on most of the album, and showcases her impressive range, whilst adding distinctive slide resonator mandolin and fiddle. As well as guitar, Aaron adds rich vocals that root the songs in harmony (taking lead on ‘Breaker Of Chains’ and ‘Take Me To The River’). Supported by Robin G Breeze on bass, organ and piano, an Adam Bowers on bass, drums, organ and piano, the new album was recorded at The Boathouse Studio in the Suffolk countryside. Engineered, Produced & Mixed by Adam Bowers and mastered by Mike Curtis.
“The album is titled ‘We Fly Free’, which is indicative of where we are right now. We feel we’ve grown so much in this last year as people and as a couple: it’s really given us the confidence to write with freedom.”
“Blues rock ? It’s all the same isn’t it ?” Well, let me introduce you to When Rivers Meet. There are twelve tracks on their debut release, and no two songs feel the same. Indeed, there is a wide range of sonic tones and styles on this release, but beautifully balanced and well managed. Everything fits together well. It’s powerful from the off, ending, as you’ll see on a high too. And i-nbetween we’re taken on a rollercoaster emotional ride. Powerful, raw and beautifully delicate. The vocals from both Grace and Aaron are delightful and their harmonies are exquisite.
The album kicks off with Did I Break The Law and boy does it kick off ! With a thumping drum beat and Aaron’s slide guitar driving through the heart of the track. This one is full of swagger and energy. The theme of the track is about the thrill of the chase and a sense of freedom, and you certainly get that from one, with Grace’s vocals powerful from the outset, a real sense of the Bonnie and Clyde.
We move next into Bound For Nowhere which has a wonderful double life, soft and melodic bursting into a thunderous headbanger of a chorus. The guitar has a kind of desolate wild west tone to it which is delightful. A song about life and the feeling that it’s like a runaway train, bound for nowhere. One of my favourites on the album, you really get the sense of a wild journey, at times careering out of control. Great stuff !
Walking On The Wire hits us next and blends Aaron and Grace’s vocal styles wonderfully well around different harmonies. A great rocking track with a country heart; the intro made me immediately think of Larkin Poe. What a start, three wonderful powerful tracks, full of energy and passion.
I’d Have Fallen slows the tempo down significantly. Apparently written while sitting in their VW Camper watching the sea while on tour. Mellow and thoughtful, the trac starts with a simple but effective guitar and lyrics are thought provoking with lines like “I caught myself today, while I was unprepared” and “And lightning strike me down, I was on my knees. My truth will let me drown….”. The tone of the mandolin (?) gives it an almost eastern feel towards the end which compliments Grace’s hauntingly beautiful lyrics.
Did you settle back and relax a little ? No time for that, as Battleground explodes out next. A full on, intense track, that showcases Grace’s rock vocals perfectly. It’s relentless from start to finish, powerful guitar underpinned by thunderous rhythm pounding at your chest. A real toe tapping, shout along classic, with the ironically perfect sing along line “Oh yeah you make the ground shake hard”.
We dive straight headlong into Kissing The Sky. This has a different feel to it, centred around Grace’s slide Mandolin solo played through a Marshall valve Amp, to re-create that classic late 60’s/70’s rock vibe. Powerful with an earthy, gritty feel. We take yet another twist of style with Breaker Of Chains
Which has a fantastic dark Americana blues feel to it. Aaron takes a vocal lead on this one, and it’s a great showcase for his talents, his voice perfectly matching the tonal quality of this one, perfectly supported by harmonies from Grace. The lyrics describe what it’s like when you find yourself at a crossroads and trying to decide what direction to go. Something Aaron and Grace say they find they face often when writing music.
I Will Fight comes next and is the first track they wrote for the album. Different again, led by a piano chord intro, but with a wonderful guitar solo in the middle. This one is a tribute to our forefathers who fought in the great wars, with emotive lyrics such as “last breathe of a man as he falls where he stands”. Usually this kind of song is slow and sad and gentle, but although it starts out as such, this one builds and builds to a fantastic crescendo and a sense of raw energy. It captures the emotion of the lyrics so perfectly.
We slow, as the simple campfire guitar and whistle introduces us to Bury My Body. Aaron and Grace sing in beautiful harmony as the lyrics flow. It really does deliver an evocative wild west melancholic feel. A sad track reminiscent for me of the wonderful “Carry My Body Down” by Nick13. This one is a reflective story of a life of bad deeds and the pending inevitable end. You can imagine a fellow at the bars of his cell watching the gallows being erected….. “I’ve been a sinner for all my life, now I’m on my way. I’ve been in trouble to my dying day, and here I am about to pray”
The lyrics are incredibly emotive with lines such as “There are things I’ve seen that have left me blind, and I knew I couldn’t stay. I kept on moving on through the coldest of times” and “I gambled my life on the wicked game, that I chose to play. My blood runs hot, coursing through my veins, I won’t miss the pain.” A stunning track.
Things cheer up with Take Me To The River. A hard-hitting rock track led by a slide guitar melody. Again, Aaron takes the lead on this one but the vocal harmonies are excellent, made that extra special by Grace’s incredible slide mandolin breaks. Friend Of Mine introduces us to the cigar box guitar and double bass, and slows it down once again with an older, kind of early 60’s style. There’s deep dark monotonous guitar beat through this one which made me think a few times that it was going to break in to Duane Eddy’s “Peter Gunn” !!! Traditional blues but with a modern twist. Grace’s vocals are incredible on this one, powerful and showing her range.
Finally, we come to the last track in We Fly Free. Just as the album burst into life with Did I Break The Law, it closes in the same way with We Fly Free. The two tracks being the perfect bookends for the story that this album is. It blasts into life with a thunderous industrial, oil drum introduction with an infectious fuzz tone guitar riff over it. Like the rest of the album, this one takes us a rollercoaster of a journey, from powerful, gritty, noisy and dirty sounding rock to subtle and delicate, and evocative vocals, before crashing back to full force.
Wow, just wow. What have I just heard? This just does not sound like a debut album. Debuts are often really good, but usually denote a band that’s a ‘work in progress’. Not this one….. WHAT a debut. This one grabs you by the throat at the start, pulls on your heart string in the middle and shakes you down at the end and I’ve loved it from start to finish. Beautiful vocals, gritty and raucous blues rock that knows how to be sort and sensual when it needs to be.
It’s hard to pick favourites form this one. I absolutely love the title track We Fly Free with its raw power and energy, but equally I have listened most to the sad and melancholy Bury My Body.
What I love most is the wide array of style and sounds created. A real tour de force and simple a stunning album, one I’m glad to have ordered for my own collection. In our first year we’ve only given ONE full length album a Gold 10, but we can now proudly say we’ve now awarded TWO ! Congratulations When Rivers Meet, on a stunning debut release!
