Ben de la Cour - To the River Rise

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 8 / 1 / 2012

Label: Ben de la Cour
Format: CD

intro

Mournfully beautiful and timeless-sounding second album from Louisiana-based singer-songwriter, Ben de la Cour

‘To the River Rise’ is the second solo album from Louisiana singer/songwriter Ben de la Cour. Formerly front man for Dead Man’s Root, a doom-metal band that attracted a lot of attention over two albums, Ben couldn’t have taken a more diverse route for his solo work. Reinvented as an acoustic fingerstyle picking troubadour much in the style of one of his heroes Townes Van Zandt (it shows), it would appear that de la Cour has found his niche. The eleven songs on ‘To The River Rise’ are stripped back revelations that sound like they are ripped directly from de la Cour’s heart. The songs are not as bleak or stark as some on his debut album. ‘Memorial Day’ for example, despite detailing the life of a man who “turned eighteen inside the joint” joins a beautiful melody, something de la Cour excels at writing, with his yearning vocals and a choir of wordless background vocals to stunning effect. Although always lyrically interesting de la Cour really shines on this particular song. Without wishing to take anything away from de la Cour’s obvious skills on the guitar, and the instrumental ‘The River (boat) Song’ is testament to that, it’s his voice that wins the listener over. While not in anyway overtly distinctive, it’s the type of voice that you can’t help but like. It’s an inviting, deep sound; you’ll find yourself believing De La Cour’s tales. The only disappointment comes when de la Cour tries something different vocally. ‘Forgotten Lovers Song’ has de la Cour singing in what is obviously not his usual singing voice or he has treated it in some way and, while I appreciate that it may just well suit how he wanted that particular song to sound, he is inaudible for the most part so whatever he was trying to convey lyrically is lost on the listener. You can hear his pain and suffering for sure, but he doesn’t need to revert to obscuring his lyrics for effect. This is confirmed by the following song, ‘The Winter Garden’. As bleak as the title suggests, every word is crystal clear and the hurt bleeds through every line even though De La Cour is singing in his normal voice; it’s much more touching this way. To say I’m impressed with ‘To the River Rise’ would be an understatement. It’s a cohesive collection of songs and, with only one merely average song over the eleven offered, I don’t think we could ask for much more. The album is going to stand up to repeated playing and is unlikely to sound dated even years down the line. It’s a classic sound Ben De La Cour has captured here and at times, such as parts of ‘Memorial Day’ and the closing ‘The Town Where I Was Born’, it will have you crying into your beer. A moving, beautiful collection of songs and currently my favourite album.

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