Dry The River are going acoustic. Wait, what? Yep, this time it's official. The acoustic version of their debut album, Shallow Bed, will be released on December 17th; right on time for Christmas shopping-mania. Ignore the marketing trick; this is one album you should be getting excited about. Perhaps I'm ever so slightly biased, being a fan of these heavily-bearded men, but this album might just be able to sneak its way into my 'best of 2012' list.
When Shallow Bed came out last spring, my first thought was YES. Having seen them twice already by that time, and having tried to collect all their leaked tracks, their lo-fi, bad sound-quality live recordings, the time had finally come to be able to enjoy their gorgeous music in the comfort of my own couch. My experience with Dry the River had been mainly acoustic - or partly anyway. The thing about DtR is that they trick you into believing that what you are listening to is acoustic. Peter Liddle, singer and guitarist, is always arm in arm with his acoustic baby and usually starts of each song solo. Then the bass, drums and violin discretely create a build-up, until they all kick in together and leave you wondering how this all happened without you noticing. At least, this is what happens at their gigs; Shallow Bed was a surprise.
The opening track of their debut album, Animal Skins, undoubtedly set the mood for what was about to follow. While listening to it for the first time however I wish it wouldn’t. It wasn’t bad at all, but somehow it didn’t grasp the essence of what DtR had seemed to be working on. The shy, mellow guitar strumming was replaced by heavy bass and soon drums entered the picture. Not much later the songs started to sound more familiar, especially round track four; History Book. Finally, the sentimental, nostalgic feel was back. Liddle begins to sound like an angel again with his falsettos, and is quickly backed-up by his fellow band-members creating chilling harmonies.
Perhaps the problem is not the track selection, or execution of the songs even. Perhaps the problem is that the energy they give out during their concerts can simply not be captured in a studio recording. This is obviously not the first, nor last band to face this issue; thank goodness they’re constantly on tour.
I have a feeling this album will be more representative of DtR’s work. Maybe some acoustic demos, like Night Owls or Coast, will be on it; a girl can dream. Until December though, you can enjoy their Exclusive Boat Concert in Amsterdam, hosted by FaceCulture on youtube. It is purely acoustic, and well, they’re on a boat cruising the A’dam canals so that’s pretty damn cool. For the real deal, you can go to Tivoli, Utrecht on the 6th or Mezz, Breda on the 7th of November.