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Soulsavers – It’s Not How far You fall, It’s The Way You Land

“You say you want a revolution…” good luck, but how about a Revival?

If you’ve found yourself feeling out of touch with the so-called hot, hip, hollarin’ new bands that seem to pop up like Pinkberry’s, you may just find solace in the new Soulsavers album It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land. The second proper release from the combined efforts of Rich Machin and Ian Glover aka Soulsavers, Not How Far… features the prolific Mark Lanegan on vocal duties for all but two songs, while other guest appearances include Will Oldham (Bonny Prince Billy), Jimi Goodwin (Doves) and Preston Long (Mule).

Much attention is being given to the opening track, “Revival”, with its bittersweet swells of gospel passion (much credit due the London Community Gospel Choir) and Lanegan’s lonely and repentant lyrics. The song’s emotion is conducive to a feeling of ascension and redemption from whatever depths one may find himself in, and even the possibility of a higher place whether in body or mind seems possible in those 4 minutes and 11 seconds (“Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” Matthew 4:11 – coincidence?). However the meta-moment is fleeting as the subsequent songs bring you back to earth, more specifically to the cracked and gritty soil.

The second track on Not How Far… “Ghosts of You and Me”, is a crawling little number complete with a how-low-can-you-go contest between Lanegan’s vocals and a grumbling bass line, while “Paper Money” contains some very funky loops and choir outbursts. If you’ve ever felt guilty about your affinity for the Soprano’s theme song (“Woke Up This Morning”), be sure to check out “Paper Money”, you no longer will have to live in shame.

“Ask the Dust” is an amazing book (by John Fante), but it also happens to be the title of the first of two instrumentals on the album, and the contrast of stark solitary piano lines with furious strings and lambasted rhythms creates an amazing push and pull. And while “Ask the Dust’s” lavish display of ranging emotion may put new life in the question as to the existence of a synthesizers soul, there’s no doubt as to the soul and its ability to be tortured in “Spiritual,” one of the albums most painfully beautiful songs. It’s the most stripped track on Not How Far… and in keeping it thin and raw, there’s nowhere to hide as Lanegan imploringly sings, “I don’t want to die alone”.

Not content in the creation alone of this sonically unique landscape, the Savers invite a couple classic compositions into their realm and the outcome is of mixed success. “Through My Sails” is a fairly straightforward rendition of the Neil Young song (Young originally resurrected it from CSN&Y era sessions to appear on his 1975 album, Zuma), and while in and of itself a simple and graceful song, it seems slightly out of place on Not How Far… The second cover, “No Expectations,” closes out the album, and it’s a decidedly more successful fit. My being a penchant for the original on the Stones immortal Beggars Banquet is an admitted bias, but really it’s the way the Savers take the sorrowful honky-tonk of the original and so craftily translate it into an apropos bleak vision of modernity that makes it a perfect closing for the album.

For a complete streaming preview of It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land, as well as commentary on each of the songs by Rich Machin himself, head over to Daytrotter.com.