SINGLE REVIEW: LAEL NEALE – I AM THE RIVER

Lael Neale has announced her new album Star Eaters Delight and released the first track from it ‘I Am The River’. It’s a propulsive, 100 meter sprint of a track which still retains the stripped down arrangement that made her 2021 album Acquainted With Night so captivating.

There’s a simple drum pattern driving the song and the ever present Omnichord that runs like a spine through Neale’s songs. There are not many people who can deliver a mostly-monotone tune and make it work but this is compelling and audacious especially as it’s the guitar which shifts around and creates harmonies with the tune.

If ‘I Am The River’ is a foretaste of the new album then we’re in a for a treat when Star Eaters Delight is released on 21st April. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp, the Sub Pop label or all good UK record shops.

Lael Neale socials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp

Lyrics:

I am the river

I carry men down

I see no rejects

No one to keep out

Tell me your dreams

How long could you keep them?

This is an Ice Age

And I have frozen

I pledge allegiance

To tree and meadow

I have no need to

conquer or keep them

I’m for the ocean

Where we will all end

Let us have music

While we are moving

I hear the bells of

The country churches

I have my sadness

And that is sacred

There is no feedback

Electric static

Let us keep moving

Let us keep moving

Remember dancing

Remember magic

We are together

I am the river

Review by Paul F Cook

Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mailing List

Leave a Comment

%d bloggers like this: