US indie rockers Run River North are today unleashing their brand new LP Drinking From A Salt Pond the impressive follow up to 2013’s self-titled debut.
Working with producer Lars Stalfors (Cold War Kids, Deap Vally, HEALTH, Matt and Kim), the new record sees the band leave behind their familiar folksy roots to craft an ambitious rock album.
“This album embodies, more distinctly, the voices of each member of the band. The first album was about my view of family, home and the world and the rest of the band responding to these stories. This album is everyone’s individual responses to our collective self-reflection – with each member speaking through their respective instruments to express the relationships within the band rather than my folk stories wrapped in harmonies and swells,” explains the band’s frontman Alex Hwang.
Since their beginnings just over four years ago, the band’s rise has been steadily spectacular, marked by appearances on national television, sold-out shows at historic venues, tours with rock and roll royalty and heaps of praise from fans and critics alike.
To celebrate the record release the band have kindly penned a track by track run down of the record which you can check out below (along with an album stream). Give is a read and listen and if you like what you’re hearing be sure to visit the band’s Facebook page for more info. Drinking From A Salt Pond is out today, pick up your copy via iTunes.
(Funeral) Parade
My drum part was inspired by jazz funerals of New Orleans. I wanted to keep a constant rhythm to mimic a march, but upbeat to keep it celebratory. -John
29
I’ve just turned thirty as you read these words and it was the year prior when I made some work. “Stick to your roots, living the dream, don’t forget us little people” All these sentiments that are yours and mine, sometimes just numbers put together like twenty and nine. -Alex
Run Or Hide
When the guys came back from Nashville with this demo, I was unsure how we could pull it off, but this is one of my favorites to play live with the intensity everyone’s vocals and parts bring. -Sally
Can’t Come Down
I’ve said too much and I can’t come down. I’m trying too hard and it’s instantly found out, Nick Brown. -Alex
Elam
Came together effortlessly when we started writing the song. Rainy days, the brilliance of Esther Cho’s lyrics, close encounters in a cramped rehearsal space and Ben Gibbard helped create this cool track. -Sally
Ghost
I was listening to a lot of Foals at the time. In the sixth grade, I picked up the acoustic guitar for our Jr. High (no, not “Middle School”) worship team. One of the things that excited me early on was the way palm muting sounded on Vineyard’s recording of ‘Stir In Me’.
I think that kinda stuck with me all these years because I still seem to palm mute quite a bit. Anyway, I love how it made its way to this chorus and how it interacts with the rhythm section. I will not speak of the uncomfortably dry, glory-guitar-solo in the bridge; I’m pretty sure this is John’s favorite thing I’ve created. In life. -Daniel
Pretender
If I remember correctly, this is the first song where we really pushed towards the edgier sound w/Alex picking up the electric guitar. We didn’t overdub the live track stems of drums, bass, and Alex’s guitar, which is awesome cause there’s something special when people record simultaneously rather than instrument by instrument. It fits this song well. – John
Anthony
It’s amazing to see how this song was birthed literally from the ground up. I remember John bringing his idea of this song back in 2013. We didn’t touch it for a while but it’s great to believe that everything has its perfect timing.
I feel like the more we grew as a band, the more we were able to feel each other out musically and this was the proof of it. I enjoyed watching the process of all of us putting in the group effort by gelling each other’s ideas together. -Jennifer
David Robinson
My proudest bass lines on the album. The band asked me to keep my fingers moving so I did. -Joe
Winter Winds
We were well into the writing process for this album when Alex brought this to the band. It was rainy and we were starting to get sick of the tiny rehearsal room we were renting in luxurious Van Nuys. Before Alex played the song for us, he described a beautiful and chilling scene to create some context for the song to exist in. There was a man standing in the middle of a forest in the dead of winter. He had just faced the biggest storm of his life and was left standing, desperate to know if that was from his God or from the devil. I imagined this man’s knuckles clenched and bare white. Unafraid and desperate for an answer, the man simply said “show me that again. Bring it on. I need to know.” By the time Alex finished playing the song, someone who will be left unnamed, broke down in tears. My low key fave track on the album. -Daniel
