Matthew Reveles puts forth a satisfying debut with We’ll Meet Halfway, an album that mixes catchy folk-fused bluegrass with frequent harmonica and shakers to pluck up the mood.
Reveles certainly isn’t heading in the progressive-folk direction embraced by bands such as Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver.
Instead, he draws on the past and more traditional musings and melodies that evoke easy living, simple loving and yearning to get beyond his youth and regrets.
The fusion of country, bluegrass, folk and traditional acoustic play is blended so seamlessly that the songs easily cross the genres.
Reveles simply saturates the listener with his worn and warm voice, rousing camaraderie and kindred spirits one might find around the campfire or at the local pub.
As far as musicianship goes, Reveles strongly plays nearly every instrument heard on the CD, including but not limited to vocals, guitar, bass, drums, harmonica, mandolin, kazoo, lap steel, shakers and handclaps.
The raw emotion and stripped-down simplicity of the instrumental combination does satiate the listener’s taste for folk and acoustic songs; however, not much of this album is overly memorable.
A few tracks that do shine on We’ll Meet Halfway include “On a Freeway Overpass,” which depicts the stale quality of life where dreams linger still and carefree youth inspires Reveles: “Now I’m thinking back to school when we said everything would be so easy man/ I wish those days would never end/ We were skipping class to smoke and drink and think away the day/ And talk about our future lives of fame.”
Yet even Reveles sees that love can save him from the dreary quality of the everyday as he hopes: “You’ll be back before that new freeway is built/ Before hollow homes stand there instead of shops that were once there/ I’ll still be working nights at the drugstore in the neighborhood we both grew it up in/ Ain’t it the way we always dreamed.”
Another track, “Late Night Lullabies,” denotes a sheer sadness minced with strange cheer on the upbeat yet tragic tune as Reveles sings over up-tempo banjo and guitar: “Nevermind these constant cries/ There’re just drunken late night lullabies/ Clear my head calm down so I can sleep.”
There are a handful of charming songs that drift through the album as seen with the delicate guitar picking on the titular track “We’ll Meet Halfway,” which stirs genuine sweetness and simple romance without ever even uttering a word.
Also, “Maggi Magpie” has Reveles singing for his girl to stay the night so they can talk as the rainy storm passes.
This album will appeal to fans of bluegrass, with the deep rumbles of banjo and bass on “Mile of Defeat” and even electric guitar layered on top of “Give It A Try”.
Essentially, Reveles strikes the right balance on this album between lyrical songs and raw instrumentals, between folk, bluegrass, country and rock, between something substantial to put on in the background or the honest story and emotion of a man striving for more with his women, his life, and his music.
