THE LONE BELLOW
Then Came The Morning
Sony
Before Zach Wiliams could play an instrument, he wrote a journal as a result of his wife experiencing temporary paralysis following a horse riding accident. Those journal entries were eventually turned into song and then an album by his trio, The Lone Bellow. Then Came The Morning is the follow up to that debut release.
Billing themselves as a ‘Brooklyn country’ outfit may be wearing things a bit too close to the sleeve, but the enlisting of The National’s Aaron Dresser to the production chair gives Then Came The Morning more depth than your standard urban country fare. The title track is a swelling beast with the outfit’s trademark harmonies and gospel leanings demanding repeated listens.
Fake Roses harks back to the individual band members roots from growing up in the South. Williams recalls ‘fake roses on the mantle, Elvis postcards on the fridge’ during this heartfelt tale of heartbreak. Kanene Donehey Pipkin sings lead vocal on Call To War with a warmth that acts as a great foil to Williams’ tone of desolation and desperation. Its not all navel gazing though, as the band kick out the jams with a bar-room rocker, Heaven Don’t Call Me Home.
Thankfully, The Lone Bellow are able to come out sounding more like The Band than Mumford & Sons on Then Came The Morning – that’s bound to be a relief to many ears indeed.
3.5 stars
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
