Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Tearing At The Seams
Thursday, 15 March 2018
Written by Simon Ramsay
Photo: Brantley Gutierrez
Is there anything more invigorating, enlivening and downright sexy than listening to a posse of supremely talented musicians casting their spell? For proof, look no further than the Night Sweats, a sublime backing group who - in tandem with bandleader Nathaniel Rateliff - you’d gladly sell your soul to witness in full flow. Especially if you love vintage Americana ensembles like the Band, Booker T & the M.G.’s and Muscle Shoals rhythm maestros the Swampers.
Although a fine intro to their soulful, fiery R&B, this Denver-based octet’s 2015 debut album was merely a taste of things to come. It may have propelled them into the limelight on the back of ramshackle detox banger S.O.B, but ‘Tearing At The Seams’ is a sizeable step forward thanks largely to the record being a fully-fledged collaborative affair following years on the road together.
There are certainly a lot of musicians here but, propped up by a rhythm section who dish out grooves that virtually live in the pocket, the Night Sweats weave in and out of the mix with the fluidity of a masterful ballet dancer, instinctively knowing when to step forward and sit back.
Intro’s fiesta of funky soul, Shoe Boot’s trippy New Orleans jazz and the sun-kissed oceanic bliss of Coolin’ Out are just three examples of their near telepathic interplay.
Whether utilising organ, pedal steel, saxophone, piano or horns, the band provide exactly the right colours, at exactly the right time, to enrich a collection of deeply personal songs that depict the painful demise of Rateliff’s relationship. Such is their empathy for the material you could listen to an instrumental version of this album and still be moved by the grief-stricken Still Out There Running and the title track’s reflective gospel soul.
They adeptly build on their debut’s solid foundations, adding both a stylistic broadness and poignancy to the songwriting. The conversational country diamond Hey Mama – which finds an aging mother giving her son a loving kick up the backside on the dock of Otis Redding’s bay – is a rousing, picturesque composition, while You Worry Me melds crisp grooves with searing horns. Baby I Lost My Way (But I'm Coming Home) dishes up a ballroom blitz of vivacious R&B.
On the previous record Rateliff’s singing, and therefore lyrics, were sometimes unclear and his hooks weren’t always memorable enough. From Be There to A Little Honey And Say It Louder, these compositions are delivered with increased clarity and possess the kind of timeless golden choruses that, much like Redding’s classics, feel like they’ve been stitched into the very fabric of our culture.
That said, nothing is perfect and there’s an argument to be made that, at times, Rateliff and co. are overly enthralled by the anachronistic sounds of yesteryear. There’s definitely room for the ensemble’s own identity to become more prominent, but for a first creative effort together ‘Tearing At The Seams’ is a stunningly crafted record that suggests there’s a hell of a lot more where this came from.
Nathaniel Rateliff Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed April 11 2018 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Thu April 12 2018 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Fri April 13 2018 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Sat April 14 2018 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Mon April 16 2018 - LIVERPOOL Olympia
Thu April 19 2018 - DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
Fri April 20 2018 - BELFAST Ulster Hall
Sat April 21 2018 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
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