Paper Airplanes
Self-Released, 2021
8/10
The Texas outfit Blue Water Highway have had an impressive career, and on this 3th album the quartet offer us 13 working class tunes, where their timeless brand of Americana thematically surrounds the differences between childhood and adulthood.
The album leads with title track, where warm, expressive vocals are met with initially bare instrumentation that builds into an emotive and fuller delivery of pedal steel, bright keys and precise drumming, and “Dog Days” follows with a playful, rootsy display of soaring beauty amid a lively energy that’s groove friendly, too.
The middle tracks offer us the subdued and stirring “Bird On A Live Wire”, while “Alchemist” brings in some ambience alongside precise piano on the eloquent album highlight. “Goodbye Jon”, another exceptional tune, then recruits harmonica and frisky drumming for the breezy Americana that will sound just as good 20 years from now as it does today.
Near the end, “Grateful” finds itself with plenty of soul as backing vocals and a nearly gospel approach makes for a unique setting, and “All Will Be Well” exits the listen with a shuffling pace of keys, drums and guitars interacting with a hopeful presence on the highly memorable finish.
Blue Water Highway began with Zack Kibodeaux (lead vocals/guitar) and Greg Essington (vocals/guitar), but have since added Catherine Clark on vocals/keys and Kyle Smith handling bass. Though they hit a bit of writer’s block at the inception of Paper Airplanes, inspiration struck when looking back on an old song, and changing up their recording process by heading to Nashville resulted in a career standout where synthesizers and vocal harmonies accent their formula with much intrigue.
Travels well with: Thomas Csorba- Thomas Csorba; Kolby Cooper- Vol. 2 EP