Like Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, this troubled troubadour's voice seems to wink and nod with every knowing croak and sigh
Hometown: Denver, Colorado.
The lineup: Nathaniel Rateliff (vocals, guitar), Ben DeSoto (drums), Julie Davis (bass, vocals), Carrie Beeder (violin, cello), James Han (piano) and Joseph Pope III (guitar, vocals).
The background: That's a long old lineup, isn't it? And, not to do the other musicians out of a job or anything or to belittle their contributions, it's entirely superfluous because really all you need to know is that Nathaniel Rateliff sings and plays guitar. There are other instruments used (albeit sparingly), and some of the songs on his 16-track album are more band performances than solo ones, but overall it's a bloke and his guitar, using his voice to tell stories or paint pictures or whatever. He sounds alone, if not lonely. You'd assume he recorded the album, In Memory of Loss, on his own, in a cabin much like the one where Bon Iver recorded For Emma, Forever Ago, or the one where William Fitzsimmons recorded two albums about depression and divorce.
Rateliff isn't, as far as we know, divorced ? in fact, he maintains that his three best songs, Oil and Lavender, You Should've Seen the Other Guy, and Shroud, were "written for and inspired by" his wife ? and we're not sure about his mental state. But if he's not down he's certainly more inclined to ruminate dolefully on the nature of existence than he is to vamp about sex or whatever it is most rock frontmen do.
Dolefully yet wryly: he's got one of those voices, like Kurt Wagner's, that is deep and rich and full of intimations of a life well (or wearily) lived, that also seems to wink and nod with every knowing croak and sigh. Like the mainly acoustic music, sparsely enhanced by organ and cello in a Chicago studio by producer Brian Deck (Califone, Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse), it creates an intimate, warm atmosphere for the listener to wallow in. And even though "warm" tends to leave us cold, in this instance the combination of Rateliff's lugubrious hangdog ? what is it, baritone? ? and the scrape of finger against string somehow works, heat-wise.
There's a spaciousness to the sound, and some eerie silences, that make the music veer towards dub country ? we could draw some comparison between the production and the desolate town of 60 people where the son of devout churchgoers grew up, but we won't. There is some multitracking, there are moments when Rateliff harmonises with himself (unless it's one of his band, in which case, apologies), and there are rockier, more Wilco-ish numbers, but the songs are mainly of the plucked, plangent variety. "Like an old-time revival," he sings at one point. Exactly. You could imagine these songs being hummed by lonesome cowboys on a prairie somewhere in Virginia or wherever it was they had cowboys or prairies.
The buzz: "A remarkable debut album ? it has the weary heart of something made by a man 20 or 30 years older than Nathaniel Rateliff, and is worthy of its place against albums that were" ? Pennyblackmusic.co.uk.
The truth: Rateliff used to be a truck driver, and his album reeks of eau d' manly sensitivity.
Most likely to: Sound like Kurt Wagner.
Least likely to: Sound Wagnerian.
What to buy: In Memory of Loss is released by Rounder in February.
File next to: William Fitzsimmons, Kurt Wagner, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen.
Links: myspace.com/thewheel.
Wednesday's new band: Wiz Khalifa.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/25/new-band-nathaniel-rateliff
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