ALBUM REVIEW: MY GIRL THE RIVER - MANIFEST GOOD THINGS
The title of My Girl The River's latest record is "Manifest Good Things", which in recent years has become such a stock phrase that #TEAMw21 thought we should check what it actually means. The answer given was "the practice of combining focused positive thoughts, clear goals, and consistent daily action to shape your reality."
This album undoubtedly comes with a plethora of focused thoughts and clear goals as it touches on "time", looking to make full use of it, reflecting on it and its unstoppable progress, as well as our own mortality.
When "Up The Mountain", appeared as a single, it came with an outstanding cover photo but most of a natural musicality making it the ideal opener to the album.
From that sumptuous opening lead slide guitar intro the expectant levels are set high. Lyrically the mountain represents a target or goal, with the journey to it, effectively being the climb.
"The weather's turning, feeling colder
Not sure if I'm prepared
Daylight fading, no more waiting
Whisper a message into the air"
Kris Wilkinson Hughes lead vocals on this opening verse have a certain touch of trepidation about them, the sort of concerns that come at the start of a big project.
The chorus raises the game somewhat, with the full band upping their volume, assisted by a keyboard sound that will become more prominent throughout. Each chorus is lyrically slightly different, the opening one very much the start of the adventure, progress is slow, the end target seemingly unobtainable - out of reach.
"Up the mountain
Moving so slow
I can't see beyond the clouds
Up the mountain
One step at a time
Getting higher I can feel you now"
Second time round the journey is getting easier, the end is at least visible, there's almost a little vocal spring in the step as Kris declares "I've got nothing to hide"
"Up the mountain
Moving faster
I can see the top through the clouds
Up the mountain
I've got nothing to hide
Getting closer can you see me now?"
The final verse, is a celebration, the exhilaration of success, of something achieved. The piano almost skips with delight as the fingers bounce across the keys.
"At the top, the sun is rising
Feels just like a morning prayer
I can't explain what I'm feeling
Sending love into the air"
The final chorus exudes the confidence of someone who has succeeded and is ready to face whatever the next challenge is, waiting to be faced.
"Another mountain
Stands before me
I can see it beyond the clouds
When I get down
I will start again
And I will carry you with me now"
"Heavy" was another single that came with a startling geographical cover, of another potential climb. Predominantly bass and acoustic guitar initially with Kris outlining a personal burden, with the key lines applicable to many who have to keep going as there is no-one else.
"Just because I can carry it
Doesn't mean it's not heavy"
As the song develops, increased percussion and layers of backing vocals elevate it to another level.
There's an acceptance that sometimes it can become too much
"When it's heavy I sit down
Try and take in the lightness around
Birdsong and beautiful faces
Can fill my empty spaces".
The warm soulful sound that comes with "Teenage Geek" sees Kris reflecting back over her musically formative years, where music and the joys of nature remain her two most steadfast friends.
"I'd get on my bike and ride and ride and ride" sing Kris, her joy shining through as she sings.
Gradually building in sound, the keyboards both organ and piano, set the scene, however that soul sound really becomes complete when the horns join the fray, along with the excellent backing vocals.
The cover of "Breadcrumbs On The Water" is another journey into the unknown where you are not quite sure where the end destination will be. It feels like Kris describing her creative process as she opens with
"When words waterfall into your consciousness
Say them out loud, gather them together"
and has another warning to us all
"Don't waste the gift of time"
Musically there are different fragments of instrumentation and vocals, that seem separate yet all gradually assimilate into one cohesive sound.
"A Little Favour" is a sombre affair, with just a stark acoustic guitar and strings, tying in with the earlier theme of not wasting time. The pleas for company feel like they are coming from someone whose time is running out and they are naturally a little peturbed
"Do me a little favour, she whispered down the line
I'm afraid to fall asleep, under anxious moonlight"
There's a sense of finality in the lyrics
"I feel the stars looking down playing judge and jury
Would you stay here and see
Where the night takes you and me?"
The final line repeated four times, just seems to hint that the respective end destinations come morning might be different.
There are fragments of piano and the ever slower guitar playing has a lullaby feel to it, as it closed out side one of the vinyl edition.
If Side One closed laying you down to sleep, then Side wo opens thrusting the curtains wide open to let the daylight in with the funky little shuffle of "Living Your Life ( Everything Is Alright)". It feels like a moment of self reflection
"You got big dreams, trying to make it
You could never fake it, it made you feel uptight"
The closing section based around various different vocals is a neat effect.
For "The Good, The Bad, The Good", the theme of time passing returns once more and although musically it is more than welcoming, lyrically it is laying some heavy concepts down
"Today someone has got some really good news
Today someone has got some really bad news
Someone is feeling fine, someone is out of time"
This is not the usual preserve of a three minute song and the conclusions drawn although harsh are undoubtedly true. Regardless of the news, time will travel onwards, and in a most harmonious way Kris reminds us "Life is a gift that we don't get to keep"
Just occasionally music and lyrics can truly combine to make some thing more than the individual components. "Without You" has a musical beauty to it, while the lyrics, although a little dark, are such a sheer embodiment of love, it almost brings a tear to the eye.
"You take care of me when I'm moving slow
You take care of me when I'm feeling low
So low that I can't see my way through
Without you"
Sheer perfection.
There is a touch of Procul Harum with the rich organ sound that accompanies "Everywhere You Go". The album theme of time passing, once more arises
"The last thing I want to do, is waste a second when I'm with you"
The album closes to the almost childish query of "Where Does The Rain Come From?" however the answers returned are more thoughtful than you might wish to hear
"Maybe it's the weight of the world pouring down
Maybe it's the sadness we all feel when we're lost
Maybe it's the tears of the ones who have gone
Maybe it's the tears of the ones who have gone first"
It closes the album with a mixture of acoustic guitar and strings, and a pedal steel from JP Ruggieri, that makes a most telling presence, bringing things to an elegant close.
A most thought provoking collection of tunes, beautifully captured with Kris Wilkinson Hughes vocals acting as our constant guide. It is impossible to navigate through without being touched by the observations being made, or by the care and devotion dedicated to the sound of each track.
