Across The Waves by The Harmed Brothers
Ludlow, Kentucky.
On the muddy banks of the Ohio is the quaint river town of Ludlow, Kentucky where decade-old ramblers, The Harmed Brothers, have left their nomadic ways for a new life amongst the quiet stir of the Ohio River Valley. Here, their latest LP, Across the Waves was born and recorded in Cincinnati’s historic Herzog Studios – a hallowed musical sanctum where the songs of Hank Williams and Flatt & Scruggs still echo.
Across The Waves shines with perhaps the Harmed Brothers strongest songs to date; the collective wisdom of two songwriters beginning new chapters in their lives and careers, working through all of the ghosts, doom and existential hang-ups – yet somehow still navigating through a strange and tumultuous time in American history.
Album opener, Skyline Over, paints a portrait of modern American coping and hopelessness; its tired protagonist struggling to maintain optimism and normalcy in a seemingly hopeless era – all the while, it simply implores you to just “hold on,” and “keep breathing,” in whatever way you can. Picture Show and River Town signal true love found – feeling home in Ludlow, more than anything else. They show the heart going tender, and finding someone incredibly special enough to want to come home to and ride through life together, however winding it may be.
“The earth is running out of truth,” Salcido proclaims in the album’s quasi-political satire, Funnies, a story of an old man longing to see the world again through youthful eyes but alas settling for his favorite chair and the lighter parts of his morning paper.
Born A Rotten Egg and In A Staring Contest focus on estranged families and nostalgia. Both deal with trying to go back, whether it be home or in time. All The Same and album centerpiece, Where You’re Going, tackle fate with the reminder that essentially all life, love, and loss are part of a bigger cycle. The lesson throughout – wherever we end up – to simply let it be, let it go, and it’ll be okay.
Ride It Out and album closer, Time, both revolve around anxiety and a sense of hopelessness, but in the same breath strive to defeat them with mantras that circle back around to the album’s overall dark optimism – “Ride it out, take a deep breath,” and “We’ll stay and we’ll play these songs,” the final mantras of Across The Waves that push The Harmed Brothers past the storms of old and into brand new open-armed territory.
