You might be wondering who New Reveille are, since I usually only review the albums of major artists. New Reveille are an independent country/alt-bluegrass band hailing from Raleigh, NC, whose record so impressed me that I felt I had to devote an album review to it. Fronted by vocalist Amy Kamm and joined by Daniel Cook, Autumn Rose and Kaitlin Grady, this is a record rich in heritage and grounded in a modern sensibility.
If you’re looking for an album that really sounds country, look no further than ‘Cannonball’. With a band that features banjo, plenty of fiddle, pedal steel, acoustic guitar, double bass and vocals that are drenched in quivering small town nowhere, it echoes the deep south and wide open nothingness like no other. From the haunting atmospheric ‘Plight of Dawn’, ridden with the ache of unrequited/lost love and illustrated with beautiful poetic metaphors such as “the moon shines off my armor that you marred”, to the feisty drama of their bluegrass/rock amalgam, lead single ‘Babylon’. Harmonica and harmonies shine on the melancholic ‘Conway Shore’, fiddle and shuffle beat further characterizing their intriguing and gritty sound, that takes another turn for the traditional country ballad ‘Forever Til Goodbye’, a big highlight of the record and one that stands up against some of the best heartache country songs around.
If you’ve been looking for more cheerful summer party tunes, then New Reveille are certainly not for you. No, heavy hearts perpetrate ‘Cannonball’; yearning, desire, loss and emptiness fill those hearts for lyrics deep and emotional, and a sound that both tears a hole through your soul and helps to heal it. Speaking of that sound, it’s varied and always interesting. They might use a bluegrass band, but elements of different eras in country’s history crop up throughout the mere 8 tracks, and at the root of things makes special space for elements of rock, folk, blues and more. ‘Daybreak’ is one such example; the vocal melody could be from both traditional country and folk, the electric guitar and general song structure has echoes of soft rock, and the bluegrass band plays in a chaotic folky manner that subverts pigeon-holing.
‘Miracle’ too dips into acoustic pop as well as modern country, all the while confusing the organizational parts of our brains that demand genre definitions, by playing with such a bluegrassy band. Yet ‘Miracle’ also contains elements of Irish country/folk, if that weren’t enough, while ‘The Flood’ is a perfect showcase for Amy’s wailing, aching vocals, inflected with her southern heritage and natural twang, as is closer ‘Smoke and Mirrors’. Yet the latter is a different sound totally (again), more stripped back and with jazzy vocal leaps and a minor key that sends shivers down one’s spine and would be a perfect background for anything horror-related. What is most surprising, is that at one point when Amy is mainly supported by piano, is that it sounds rather similar to Evanescence. The rock aspect by no means overwhelms, and it is barely noticeable unless you’re really listening to the song structures as the appropriate instrumentation is not present, but their versatility and wide display of influences really is to their credit, leaving a startling and disturbing, yet comforting effect on the listener. This is songcraft at its finest.
New Reveille are by no means your average band, and perhaps the amount of “twang” present here is not for everyone, especially not those who like the compressed pop party anthems of mainstream country. However, if you’re looking for more from your music, you will never be disappointed with the ‘Cannonball’. It offers a wide variety of sounds and styles yet with an overriding theme of bluegrass-esque instrumentation and lyrical melancholy that is sure to satisfy anyone looking for a little heartbreak in their music.
