Album Review: Over The Rhine – Love And Revelation (Great Speckled Dog)

One thing we all could use right now is a little Love And Revelation. Americana couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, aka Over The Rhine, show up with some just in time.

Its been a while since Karin and Linford have graced us with an album of new material, but the rural Ohio-based duo have come through. The couple have been married for 22 years and been making music together for 30, so they know what they’re doing.

For a while…during the mid-oughts…they were responsible for some of the finest Americana music being made at the time, thanks to albums such as 2003’s Ohio, 2005’s Drunkard’s Prayer and 2007’s The Trumpet Child.

So, it’s great to have them back.

For Love And Revelation, they were unable to corral producer Joe Henry, who had worked on previous albums, but they did use his band and engineer. And the result is a sound that is remarkably close to what Henry is known for…a dry, live sound that accentuates intimate studio performances.

No doubt credit for this should be shared by engineer Ryan Freeland and the crack band featuring ace session player Greg Leisz (electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin), drummer Jay Bellerose, Jennifer Condos on hollow-body bass, keyboard player Patrick Warren and Bradly Meinerding who also adds electric guitar and mandolin.

Though both bandmembers write, it’s Karin who handles most of the compositional chores on this record. And with time passing as it does, the over-arching theme here seems to be loss. Karin notes on their website that, “A lot of these new songs are coming to terms with our realization that certain losses will be carried with us for the rest of our lives”.

That’s certainly evident on the first track, Los Lunas as Bergquist starts things off with a tear in her eye:

I cried all the way from Los Lunas to Santa Fe
And on to Raton
Neither one of us wanted things to end this way
But one of us had to be wrong

The mood remains sombre on the next tune, Given Road, as Karin sings of missing someone, “I miss the weight of you”.

Musically, things are suitably restrained with Greg Leisz’ pedal steel setting the tone.

Let You Down, a tune written by Linford, follows and the couple blend their voices in harmony as Patrick Warren’s string arrangement ties it all together.

Karin adds some swagger to her voice after counting in the title track, and the change of pace is welcome.

In fact, if there is one criticism to be aimed at this 11-song collection, its that the mood and pace feels very much the same from song to song.

But there’s no denying the quality of Karin and Lindford’s songwriting or the way their voices and instruments melt together. That’s what happens when you’ve been together all those years.

The album ends with May God Love You (Like You’ve Never Been Loved), a lovely song that comes across more like a prayer.

And sadly, that is just what is called for during these times.

Marty Duda