The spur
Joan Shelley
Keywords
Reviews (5)
AllMusic
2019
By
By
Mark Deming
2019
"There's a whisper quiet tone to this album that gently urges the listener to lean into the music, and the layers and details of the seemingly simple arrangements amply reward the scrutiny. Like The River Loves The Sea seems simple upon first glance, but a more determined study of these twelve songs confirms their elegance is an excellent match for the emotional dynamics of Shelley's vision. Like a more pastoral variation on Joni Mitchell's Blue, the reduced volume on Like The River Loves The Sea gives the music strength, not fragility, and this is Joan Shelley's best work to date. Turns out that trip to Reykjavik was a wise investment".
Exclaim!
d. 27. Aug. 2019
By
By
Daniel Sylvester
d. 27. Aug. 2019
"On Like the River Loves the Sea, Joan Shelley proves she may be the only active musician who can surround herself with collaborators and sound exactly like herself".
Pitchfork
d. 4. Sep. 2019
By
By
Graeme Thomson
d. 4. Sep. 2019
"The Kentucky folksinger's fifth solo album strips down to acoustic instrumentation and her softly luminous voice, carving out a refuge where love and nature find solace in each other ... This time Shelley and her bandmates recorded in Reykjavik, and although the sound is fashioned from an intricate blend of guitar, piano, and keyboard, the emphasis has changed once again, primarily due to the violin and cello orchestrations of Icelandic sisters Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir and Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir. Their contributions lend these songs their wings".
Folk radio UK
d. 5. Sep. 2019
By
By
David Weir
d. 5. Sep. 2019
"This time around Shelley chose to record at Greenhaus Studios in Reykjavik, Iceland, initially in a short five-day burst with James Elkington and touring partner, Nathan Salsburg as her backing band ... Although Like The River is still rooted in Kentucky music (which takes its cues from Irish, British and African traditions) it does evoke similar feelings of quietude as Jonsi's Riceboy Sleeps. Perhaps the North Atlantic Ocean divide isn't so vast after all. At times it's almost as if the former strictures of her songwriting dissolved in the country's hot springs. Like Fleet Foxes' Crack-Up mosaic, everything that first intrigued us about Shelley remains intact, except now it's slightly more fragmented. It washes over the listener in soothing, shifting waves ... As always Shelley's breathtaking voice is at the fore. When her measured, fragile melodies arise there's the feeling that they risk being spooked at any moment. At times they appear so delicate, you long to cup your hands around them, to closer examine the intricate grace notes that make up their grand design".
Record collector
495 (2019 September)
By
By
Terry Staunton
495 (2019 September)
"Having broken through to a wider audience with her last, self-titled album produced by Jeff Tweedy, Shelley arguably risked derailing that momentum by choosing to leave her old Kentucky home and record this new collection in Iceland. As it transpires, the distance has had the effect of reaffirming the singer's connection to her roots ... The search for beauty in an ugly world provides a constant theme, exquisitely delivered by a singer ripe for A-list stardom".