Josh Ritter – So Runs The World Away

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Some albums sound effortless, like the record button was hit and out came a finished product. Some albums sound like they were painstakingly slaved over and have lost any of the initial spark they started with. And then there are albums like Josh Ritter’s “So Runs The World Away”.

Ritter’s latest release fills a different hole in what a record can be. You can tell each song has been carefully crafted into an incredibly solid and cohesive album, yet the songs sound fresh to the listeners ears. The hard work and challenge Ritter (and crew) went through to make this record doesn’t manage to hurt the sound that flows out of the speakers.

“I felt at times as if I was hovering just above myself, watching the mediocrity of my afternoon threatening to spread across months and years into a lost decade. And with nothing to show for myself would anyone ever believe how hard I had worked? The shadow hung and I held on, hoping for a single verse of something, anything at all that I could love.”

Good thing Josh Ritter decided to hang on. What was crafted on “So Runs The World Away” is something that seems to mark a special place in his career and holds a special place in my listening library.

There are millions of words and phrases to describe albums. The one word I have for this release may sound like a negative one—heavy. When I think of a heavy album I think loud, depressing, or having excessive bass. “So Runs The World Away” is none of these things.

So why does that word come to mind to describe it? I can’t quite put it elegantly into words but when I heard “The Curse”, that was the first word that came to mind. The piano is gorgeous, the singing is delicate, yet there’s this heavy aural, subconscious tone set deep back in the recording and writing of this song. The lyrics sing the tale of a man and woman I can only visualize through music playing out of a gramophone while rifling through handfuls of old, torn photos.
See if you understand what I mean in this amazing video conceived, directed, produced, and puppeteered by Josh’s drummer Liam Hurley:

Read up a little more about the making of this video from NPR.

The rest of the album has a different tone than “The Curse” but works perfectly together. The year plus spent recording in Maine and Brooklyn are definitely apparent as to how well the album came out. Not a bar of any song on the record doesn’t sound like it wasn’t thought out. This may lead you to think it was over produced, but turns out it’s far from it. The album sounds authentic yet polished. Almost an impossible challenge when putting an album together.

“So Runs The World Away” is a great step forward in Ritter’s songwriting and approach towards music. It holds the same level of songwriting you have grown to expect from him but also takes it in a slightly new direction.

Josh Ritter – Change of Time

Photo Credit: Todd Roeth