River Of Tears
Blue Betty, 2024
9/10
The duo of Robin Dean Salmon and Afton Seekins Salmon, as Surrender Hill they return with their grittiest album to date, where rock, soul, classic country and western ideas are present.
The warm and hazy title track starts the listen with Robin’s expressive voice alongside cozy pedal steel and thumping drums, and “Holding Me” follows with fluid guitar amid Afton’s pretty pipes that embrace plenty of country traditions.
Moving into the middle, the rich and emotive “Last Goodbye” is a dense and powerful duet, while “Palomino” is an intimate and poetic moment that places much attention on mood and builds into a rugged album highlight.
Further still, the dreamy “Black Birds Are Black” tugs on the heartstrings via the jangly and sincere songwriting, and “Angel, The Devil And Me” exits with an initial calm demeanor that shifts into a frisky, dance floor ready appeal that emits an infectious energy.
If legends like Rodney Crowell, Waylon Jennings, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and Emmylou Harris are of your interest, Surrender Hill’s top notch brand of Americana should be in your collection.
Travels well with: Lynne Hanson- Just A Poet; Moonsville Collective-A Hundred Highways