THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...WHEN RIVERS MEET – Addicted To You (One Road Records)

Time spent in the company of a When Rivers Meet album is never time wasted, all the more so when you’re listening to their latest outing, ‘Addicted To You’. Its predecessor, 2023’s ‘Aces Are High’, set the bar high by being the first blues album from an independent band to break into the UK Top Ten, and the immensely likeable outfit have risen to this challenge by creating an even more comprehensive collection of material. The songs are still very much When Rivers Meet, that goes without saying, but this time round there’s a more definite confidence on display. They’ve paid their dues, they’ve earned their stripes, and now it’s time to flex their muscles.

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Tavistock Wharf, May 2023

There’s so much to admire in a band that still maintain a full hands-on approach to almost every aspect of what they do. The musicianship of the individuals – Grace Bond (vocals, violin and mandolin), Aaron Bond (guitar and vocals), Adam Bowers (keyboards, bass and guitar) and James Fox (drums, keyboards and guitar) – is close to heavenly perfection, and Bowers’ production ensures the album sparkles with life. The key to the band is the vocal interplay between Grace and Aaron Bond, perhaps never bettered than in ‘Tree Of Life’, as well as a tight groove that creates magic out of songs like ‘Soft White Sand’. Elsewhere the two sides of When Rivers Meet – the soulful and the ballsy – are forcefully demonstrated in the plaintive ‘Coming Up For Air’ and storming opener ‘Addicted To You’, while album closer ‘When Rivers Meet’ itself is a dedication to their loyal battalion of fans, The Rapids.

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When Rivers Meet, London Palladium, by Keith Shapland

Atop all this, if there was any doubt about the future for When Rivers Meet, their performance opening for Blue Öyster Cult at London’s Palladium on 25 May ably demonstrated that this is a band whose destiny is to be on big stages in front of big crowds. Just watch them fly...

Video Clips:
‘Addicted To You’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJ8Cv_Plco
‘Never Change’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7Ks2xmURnQ
‘Break Free’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0I6ihuLbTA