[Live] Nathaniel Rateliff: May 23rd @ Soda Bar + Latest Album

Staring out the window of the passenger’s seat looking out onto scenic trees and hills as you drive away from something. That’s what I visualize when I listen to Nathaniel Rateliff’s latest album, Falling Faster Than You Can run. The album starts off soft, incorporating the  potent stories and rustic melancholia that made him, as the New York Times put it, “a local folk pop hero.” That locality is Denver, Colorado, where Rateliff resides and where he rose to eminence with his affecting music. However his latest album has him –  literally as well as musically –  driving away from his origins.

On a literal level, Rateliff’s success is allowing him to headline a national tour. Genre wise, Rateliff moves away from a previously more compact categorization. He branches off into new sounds: Hints of electric guitar; tracks like “Don’t Get Too Close” and “Laborman” are more upbeat and catchy almost in the breezy-pop style of Jack Johnson (just substitute banana pancakes for a wave that could carry you away); and even hits a bit of Sinatra-like jazz in his track “Right On.” It makes for a more eclectic assortment, yet the natural ruggedness and evocative lyrics that bought him to the spotlight initially are still prominent in a way that will undoubtedly placate his longstanding fans. And in a way that fits right into the wistful type music that we dig at IC.

Rateliff has said that the songs comprising this album were penned while he was on the road and stem from his feeling of strong isolation at the time. That heart-on-your-sleeve songwriting in combination with his rural Missouri upbringing attribute to that back to basics mentality that shines through his music.

The last track (which is also the title track), starts off with ambient sounds. His deep voice comes in and eventually develops a steady melody. It’s reminiscent of gliding through space or reaching some mystical destination with wonderment at the end of a long journey. “Falling Faster Than You Can Run” rounds up the album nicely, and makes it clear Rateliff really has traveled somewhere far.

Catch Nathaniel Rateliff in San Diego during his tour on Friday May 23^{rd at Soda Bar}. Get tickets here. The album’s official US release is April 1st.