Though sounding completely different from one another,
Gov't Mule's
Peace...Like a River is a companion album to 2021's
Heavy Load Blues. The dates were actually recorded simultaneously in different spaces inside the same studio. In different rooms, the band -- guitarist / vocalist
Warren Haynes, drummer
Matt Abts, bassist
Jorgen Carlsson, and keyboardist
Danny Louis -- and co-producer
John Paterno set up two entirely different recording areas with amps, guitars, keys, and microphones, with the intention of giving each album its own sonic and musical identity. While
Heavy Load Blues is an epic blues-rock date,
Peace...Like a River is a labyrinthine trek through original songs that nod at the band's classic rock influences, creating an album that sounds like it was written and recorded during the 1970s. Opener "Same as It Ever Was" offers poetic lyrics about life's difficulties and revelations during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. The fingerpicked lead guitar, psychedelic production, lilting melody, and thunderous rhythm section crescendo buoy
Haynes' emotionally resonant vocal. "Shake Our Way Out" is an exercise thundering, riff-centric, distorted blues-rock with
Billy F. Gibbons (
ZZ Top) joining on second guitar and vocals. While "Made My Peace" introduces itself as a midtempo, swaggering blues boogie, it quickly shifts gears to reflect
Pink Floyd's deep influence on
Gov't Mule. The vocal harmonies, melody, and dynamics recall both the
Dark Side of the Moon and
Wish You Were Here eras. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a jazzy rock cum R&B production.
Ruthie Foster and
Ivan Neville join the crew for the souled-out, steamy, bluesy, jazzy, NOLA-inspired funk on the poignant "Dreaming Out Loud" complete with soaring horns. Its lyrics were compiled from writings and speeches by
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Robert F. Kennedy, congressman/activist
John Lewis and
John F. Kennedy.
Billy Bob Thornton contributes vocals to the swampy, spooky dubwise reggae of "The River Only Flows One Way." "After the Storm" cooks, but it's just a little too derivative of the
L.A. Woman-era
Doors due to
Haynes trying too hard to imitate
Jim Morrison in the first verse. That said,
Louis' fine organ work owes more to the exploratory grooves of
Larry Young and
Garth Hudson than
Ray Manzarek. "Just Across the River" is a slow-rolling, R&B-inflected blues featuring excellent playing and singing from New York-based guitarist and vocalist
Celisse Henderson (
Brandi Carlile,
Joni Mitchell). "Long Time Coming" is a righteous, horn-drenched, soul-blues rave-up with a powerful vocal from
Haynes.
Peace...Like a River closes with the slide guitar Southern-fried rock of "Gone Too Long," which nods simultaneously at
Neil Young with
Crazy Horse and
Lynyrd Skynyrd. This set reaffirms
Gov't Mule's place as one of the most musical, stylistically ambitious bands out there. ~ Thom Jurek