Award-winning blues rock duo When Rivers Meet‘s latest single, ‘Infected’, is out now, following their third studio album, Aces Are High, just being issued via One Road Records.
“‘Infected’ was the first song we wrote for our new album Aces Are High‘, said lead singer, mandolin and violinist, Grace Bond. “We brought in fuzz guitar tones to the album and wanted Infected, the opening track to be an indicator as to where the album is going to take you.”
“We strongly believe that it is commonplace to put boundaries and limitations on yourself before you’ve even allowed yourself to dream, It’s the plague of man,” added guitarist Aaron Bond. “We wanted the choruses to be psychedelic and swamp the listener in harmony, to give the impression of the subconscious conditioning that’s happening all the time.”
With the backbone of vintage Led Zeppelin giving it some heft, they shift and shuffle with compelling foreground melodies on ‘Infected’ available on all streaming platforms here and you can check out the video here at RAMzine.
Regarding Aces Are High album the duo revealed, “As our music is progressing, we’re finding our sound even more. When we went in the studio this time, we’ve never been so sure on what we wanted to create – We had a really clear vision and have stuck to it.
“Before we held back on being too rocky, but this time we allowed ourselves to create what we wanted to hear, without restricting ourselves. We also allowed ourselves to express the different colours to our music with tracks like ‘Golden’ and ‘By Your Side’, so this album has more extremes. We still call upon our influences from all the years but remain true to ourselves to create music we love.”
Since their formation in 2019, the husband-and-wife duo Grace Bond (vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (vocals, guitar) have been quick to prove themselves one of the most exciting names in British blues rock. Blending Americana, folk, blues, and rock in a distinctly unique manner, they have been showered with many awards and accolades.
Their forthcoming album Aces Are High follows two critically acclaimed records: We Fly Free (2020), that reached No.1 in the iTunes Blues Album Chart, and Saving Grace (2021), that charted at No.2 in the UK Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart, No.5 UK Official Album Downloads Chart, and No.6 UK Official Independent Albums Chart. These were based purely on chart reporting digital sales and didn’t include physical sales.
Aces Are High finds the duo returning with a more powerful sound than before. Words has it that “Aaron’s gnarled riffs hit harder alongside his deep vocal tones, while Grace’s vocals range wider with tantalising bite as they effortlessly climb scales like her striking slide mandolin which accompanies the likes of ‘Trail To Avalon’.”
The immediacy of the new record is showcased from the off with new single ‘Infected’, while no punches are pulled on the kick-out-time anthem ‘5 Minutes Until Midnight’. Nevertheless, its contrasting sides find delicate moments such as the reflective acoustic song ‘Golden’ and the shimmering Americana of ‘By Your Side’.
The full track listing is: ‘Infected’, ‘Seen It All Before’, ‘Play My Game’, ‘Golden’, ‘Aces Are High’, ‘Trail To Avalon’, ‘Perfect Stranger’, ‘The Secret’, ‘By Your Side’ and ‘5 Minutes Until Midnight’.
When Rivers Meet were the first band to win four awards at the UK Blues Awards 2021 and another three awards in 2022, including Blues Band Of The Year on both occasions. In 2021 When Rivers Meet were voted Best New Band at Planet Rock’s The Rocks Awards, and in 2022 won Planet Rock’s Blues Power Award and Album Of The Year Award with Saving Grace. They would subsequently go onto receive further UK Blues Award while on tour in the UK this April through May.
‘Perfect Stranger’ came out as a single around then, with lead singer and mandolin player Grace Bond declaring, “We wanted to write a song about our relationship and how we first met. Our relationship is intense and creative. We wanted to write a song that reflects that tension throughout.”
All singles from the new album are still available for streaming, and you can check out the videos to them right here at RAMzine.
Aces Are High can be ordered here.
WHEN RIVERS MEET LIVE
27th September – O2 Academy 2, Islington (Sold Out)
6th October – Cornwall Rocks Festival, Looe
12th November – Whitby Blues, Rhythm & Rock, Whitby
