Gov't Mule - Peace...Like A River (2023) {Deluxe Edition}

Renowned GRAMMY-nominated band Gov’t Mule has announced their new studio album, Peace…Like A River, will be released this summer and has shared the first single “Dreaming Out Loud,” featuring Ivan Neville and Ruthie Foster. For the stirring new song, GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, and producer Warren Haynes wove together inspirational quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert and John Kennedy, and the late civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis.

Peace…Like A River is the band’s 12th studio album and follow-up to their chart-topping, Grammy-nominated blues album, Heavy Load Blues. The 12-song rock collection also features guest appearances from Billy Bob Thornton, Celisse, and Billy F Gibbons. In addition, the Peace…Like A River Deluxe Edition (available on CD only) includes the original 12-track album plus the special 5-track Time Of The Signs Bonus EP, which features four brand-new, unreleased tracks and an alternate version of the album track “The River Only Flows One Way,” with Warren taking lead vocals.

“Peace…Like A River is very ambitious from a musical arrangement standpoint in the way that a lot of the songs take twists and turns that is not common in today’s pop music world,” shared Haynes. “At the same time, it’s very much a song record and covers a lot of ground, stylistically speaking. Song for song maybe my favorite one.”

The tracks on Peace…Like A River explore the many sides of Gov’t Mule and bring together all the qualities that have earned the four-piece - Haynes [guitar, vocals], Matt Abts [drums], Danny Louis [keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals], and Jorgen Carlsson [bass] – the beloved stature they enjoy today. Concise songcraft coexists seamlessly with the band’s trademark instrumental journeys. Songs longer than pop convention are somehow still compact: they’re explorative but never meandering; the tunes are at once both wide-ranging and tightly focused. Thematically, the new album explores the seismic changes the world has gone through over the past few years. Influenced both in his songwriting and playing by what Haynes calls “the golden era of rock, soul, jazz and blues,” Gov’t Mule combines the best and most enduring qualities from all those musical strains to create a timeless piece of art on Peace…Like A River that could have easily been released during rock ‘n roll’s classic 70’s classic.

Peace…Like A River was recorded during the same sessions as Heavy Load Blues at The Power Station New England with co-producer John Paterno (Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos) alongside Haynes. The albums, however, were created in different rooms, with no shared gear or instruments, keeping the two concurrent projects with their own unique identity and character.

One distinguishing difference on Peace…Like A River is the presence of talented friends in important guest roles. Billy F Gibbons’ trademark vocals underscore the tasty ZZ Top textures that inform the humor-infused “Shake Our Way Out,” while Billy Bob Thornton adds his distinctive vocals to “The River Only Flows One Way.” For introductory track “Dreaming Out Loud,” Haynes wanted a Sly and the Family Stone vocal style where different singers take different sections of the song, so he called upon previous collaborators blues great Ruthie Foster, whose backing vocals graced Mule’s 2006 album High & Mighty, and longtime friend, New Orleans soul legend, Ivan Neville. Lastly, rising soul artist Celisse adds her incredible vocals to “Just Across The River.”

Though sounding completely different from one another, Gov't Mule's Peace…Like a River is a companion album to 2021's Heavy Load Blues. The dates were actually recorded simultaneously in different spaces inside the same studio. In different rooms, the band – Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, bassist Jorgen Carlsson, and keyboardist Danny Louis – and co-producer John Paterno set up two entirely different recording areas with amps, guitars, keys, and microphones, with the intention of giving each album its own sonic and musical identity. While Heavy Load Blues is an epic blues-rock date, Peace…Like a River is a labyrinthine trek through original songs that nod at the band's classic rock influences, creating an album that sounds like it was written and recorded during the 1970s. Opener "Same as It Ever Was" offers poetic lyrics about life's difficulties and revelations during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. The fingerpicked lead guitar, psychedelic production, lilting melody, and thunderous rhythm section crescendo buoy Haynes' emotionally resonant vocal. "Shake Our Way Out" is an exercise thundering, riff-centric, distorted blues-rock with Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top) joining on second guitar and vocals. While "Mader My Peace" introduces itself as a midtempo, swaggering blues boogie, it quickly shifts gears to reflect Pink Floyd's deep influence on Gov't Mule. The vocal harmonies, melody, and dynamics recall both the Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here eras. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a jazzy rock cum R&B production. Ruthie Foster and Ivan Neville join the crew for the souled-out, steamy, bluesy, jazzy, NOLA-inspired funk on the poignant "Dreaming Out Loud" complete with soaring horns. Its lyrics were compiled from writings and speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, congressman/activist John Lewis and John F. Kennedy. Billy Bob Thornton contributes vocals to the swampy, spooky dubwise reggae of "The River Only Flows One Way." "After the Storm" cooks, but it's just a little too derivative of the L.A. Woman-era Doors due to Haynes trying too hard to imitate Jim Morrison in the first verse. That said, Louis' organ work is stellar, owing more to the exploratory grooves of Larry Young and Garth Hudson than Ray Manzarek. "Just Across the River" is a slow-rolling, R&B-inflected blues featuring excellent playing and singing from New York-based guitarist and vocalist Celisse Henderson (Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell). "Long Time Coming" is a righteous, horn-drenched, soul-blues rave-up with a powerful vocal from Haynes. Peace…Like a River closes with the slide guitar Southern-fried rock of "Gone Too Long," which nods simultaneously at Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Lynyrd Skynyrd. This set reaffirms Gov't Mule's place as one of the most musical and stylistically restless bands of the last three decades.

~ Thom Jurek, All Music

Track List CD1 - Peace…Like A River:

01. Same As It Ever Was [6:45]
02. Shake Our Way Out [Feat. Billy F Gibbons] [6:24]
03. Made My Peace [9:08]
04. Peace I Need [7:22]
05. Your Only Friend [6:00]
06. Dreaming Out Loud [Feat. Ivan Neville, Ruthie Foster] [4:39]
07. Head Full Of Thunder [4:36]
08. The River Only Flows One Way [Feat. Billy Bob Thornton] [7:22]
09. After The Storm [6:25]
10. Just Across The River [Feat. Celisse] [5:19]
11. Long Time Coming [5:20]
12. Gone Too Long [7:16]


Track List CD2 - Time Of The Signs (Bonus EP):

01. Stumblebum [6:09]
02. UnderThe Tent [5:26]
03. Time Stands Still [5:18]
04. Blue, Blue Wind [6:50]
05. The River Only Flows One Way (WH vocal) [7:22]