2020 was not quite what Jay Farrar was expecting for the 25th anniversary of Son Volt’s groundbreaking debut Trace.
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 with 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 Livin' 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.
Tracklist
1. Reverie
2. Arkey Blue
3. The Globe
4. Diamonds And Cigarettes
5. Lucky Ones
6. War On Misery
7. Livin' In The U.S.A
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