The Water Comes Back
Self-Released, 2021
8/10
Listen to The Water Comes Back
The Baltimore singer-songwriter Katie Callahan returns with a sophomore album, where her rich and stirring vision takes help from Charlie Lowell and Matthew Odmark, of Jars Of Clay, as well as Paul Eckberg, Kevin Whitsett, Louis Johnson and Dustin Ransom.
“In A Garden” starts the listen with a vocally strong, gospel feel as many voices mesh with much warmth and cozy drumming, and “One Sided Sea” follows with Callahan’s expressive pipes amid a very soothing and dreamy version of indie-folk.
Moving towards the middle, “I Miss God” brings Eckberg’s drums into focus alongside the poetic singing that just might this generation’s version of Joan Osborne’s “One Of Us”, while “Notre Dame” recruits brief accordion as a very pretty version of Americana unfolds. “Sri Lanka”, one of the album’s best, then displays Callahan’s incredible vocal prowess in a very bare climate that benefits from Lowell’s sublime keys as the track lyrically addresses the 2019 terrorist bombing of a Sri Lankan church.
“Goodbye Baby” and “Low Tide” exit the listen, where the former offers a fuller moment of mature song craft that’s got plenty of melody, and the latter is the best tune present, as strings and Johnson’s thick electric guitar complement the radiant, heartfelt finish.
The impetus for the album came from Callahan’s examination of religion in her life following the election of 2016. An artist who grew up submerged in evangelical Christianity, the mother felt it necessary to analyze all facets of her life, and it makes for an intimate, spiritual and highly creative listen.
Travels well with: Ro Myra- Nowhere, Nebraska; Grace Womack- Yellow Cowboy Hat