The Southgate House Revival - Sanctuary
111 E Sixth Street, Newport, KY
Thu
August 18, 2022
8:00 pm
EDT
(7:00 pm DOORS)
River Whyless, Rebecca Rego
$15.00
Of course, opting for this freedom of experimentation in lieu of a well-rehearsed outfitdid come with a cost. “I think we were all unpleasantly surprised by how short a monthsuddenly felt as soon as we started grappling with the challenge we’d created forourselves,”O’Keefesays. There were many, long days and nights, especially forShearin,who, by virtue of his experience in the world of recording, was wearing at least two hatsat all times: that of artist and engineer.O’Keefe,Monoflora’sdefacto assistant engineer,could relate. “It’s an intensely immersive and romantic experience to be wearing all thehats at once,” he says. “It’s empowering, exciting. But it’s also exhausting. We knew this,and yet...we were determined to put our years of experience to the test.”In August 2019, the four members of River Whyless-Halli Anderson, Ryan O’Keefe,Daniel Shearin and Alex McWalters-secluded themselves for thirty days deep in thehills outside Asheville, NC. Their intention was to make a record, the band’s fourth full-length effort, and first without a producer sincetheir2012 debut A Stone, A Leaf, AnUnfound Door. Back then, that constraint was a matter of necessity. This time, it wasdeliberate.Using mostly gear fromShearin’s recording studio, the band convertedMcWalter’shouse into a multi-level homemade recording space. The basement became the controlroom and drum world.The main level, with its high ceilings and pine floors, was well-equipped for acoustic guitars and violin. They didn’t know yet where the vocals would betracked. In truth, they didn’t know much except that they had the gear they needed,some time, and a collection of very rough-hewn demos theyhoped could be shaped intosomething honest and cohesive. Accustomed to arriving at the studio well-rehearsed, forMonoflora,Shearin,Anderson,O’KeefeandMcWalterscame intentionally unprepared. They wantedtocapture ideas at their source, in the very moment of their creation. They would start thetape and let it roll until they could let their conscious minds forget they were recording.Thentheycould simply create. Arrangements were fleshed out and captured on the spot.The foundation of songs were often recorded with the singers in a room together with aguitar, writing harmonies and lyrics astheywent. Many of the vocals were finishedwithin the first few takes, or even with the scratch take. Early experimental drum ideaswere slowed down and pitched-shifted to blend with a changing vision of a song.
On Monoflora the band has, in some ways, returned toitsmore acoustic origins, thisalbum shed of the hard-driving, electrified and/or synthesized outwardness thatpropelled 2018’s Kindness, A Rebel. But while Monoflora certainly features moreacoustic guitar and violin than bothKindnessand 2016’sWe All The Light, it would beinaccurate (or oversimple) to say thatitharkens back toRiver Whyless’earlier,“folksier” efforts, like 2012’s Stoneand/oritseponymous 2015 EP
On Monoflora the band has, in some ways, returned toitsmore acoustic origins, thisalbum shed of the hard-driving, electrified and/or synthesized outwardness thatpropelled 2018’s Kindness, A Rebel. But while Monoflora certainly features moreacoustic guitar and violin than bothKindnessand 2016’sWe All The Light, it would beinaccurate (or oversimple) to say thatitharkens back toRiver Whyless’earlier,“folksier” efforts, like 2012’s Stoneand/oritseponymous 2015 EP