Nothing’s ever for certain/’till the levee breaks down/the water comes in and the river takes the town.
Right at the time southeastern Texas was beset by a major hurricane in late summer of 2017, the Wood Brothers recorded a song that perfectly captures that catastrophic time in their signature folksy manner. “River Takes the Town” required a little clairvoyance, as they wrote a song about a major flood before Harvey dumped an ocean of rain on Houston (and taped it the day after it hit the Bayou City).
“River” is the first single from the Wood Brothers’ sixth studio album One Drop Of Truth, due out in early 2018. Lead vocalist and guitarist Oliver Wood promises this long player to be “the freest album we’ve done,” and going off the advance track, there’s already a noticeable difference in how the mix is handled: the sound of his vulnerable vocal and acoustic guitar along with Chris Wood’s woody bass practically spill out onto your lap. Jano Rix’s sturdy timekeeping on drums steadily builds up a groove until the harmony vocals and organ overwhelm the peaceful feeling like the arrival of a storm, and just like that storm, it quickly recedes.
“River Takes the Town” is now available for download via Amazon and all the other major digital retailers.
- Soft Machine – ‘Drop’ (1971, 2025 remaster) - May 21, 2025
- Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons – ‘Live In Philadelphia’ (2025) - May 19, 2025
- Satoko Fujii This Is It! – ‘Message’ (2025) - May 14, 2025
