''The Lone Bellow'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

trio

The Lone Bellow The Lone Bellow is an American musical group from Brooklyn, New York City. History The Lone Bellow began as a songwriting project for Zach Williams, whose wife had suffered temporary paralysis following a horseback riding accident. During h ...

. The album was released on January 22, 2013 by Descendant Records label, and the producer on the album was

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

. The album has achieved critical and commercial acclaim.

Music and lyrics

The trio sing songs that have been described as being in the following genres:

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style f ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

Critical reception

''The Lone Bellow'' has received mostly positive and favorable reviews from the critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, they assign a weighted average score to reviews and ratings from mainstream music critics, which the Metascore earned for this release is 79 out of 100.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Steve Leggett called the album "a gem" that is "full of haunting, passionate songs that breathe with country soul and a kind of autumnal grace", which this "solid debut, made by a band that arrives fully formed and has a great future." Brian Palmer of ''Glide Magazine'' noted that the band is "making some waves" with their new album, which he evoked that the album "will soothe your soul or help you drown your sorrows, depending on your preference", and told that "either choice sound appealing and you’ll want to experience it again and again." Holly Gleason of '' Paste'' found that "working with producer

figured out a way to harness the acoustic-rock template being mined by

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, key ...

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing toge ...

and

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams (singer), Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White h ...

and add a sense of powerful vocal incandescence. If

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

shimmered more, rocked less and were organic without being raw, that might suggest the level of evocative language and romance The Lone Bellow exudes." Roughstock's Matt Bjorke alluded to how "The trio's earthy harmonies drive their sound and while the comparisons to popular rootsy folk bands like Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers,

Needtobreathe Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass), Josh Lovelace (backing vocals, keys), Randall H ...

and The Civil Wars are obvious, The Lone Bellow showcases throughout this fantastic self-titled album an ability to bridge the trend of the moment with a more wholesome, heartland sensibility that could and should lend the band to the ears of mainstream Country Music fans." Conversely, Jon Dolan of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' claimed that "anyone expecting funny-bearded fiddle jams about artisanal pickles might be disappointed. The trio shape folk, gospel and blues influences into straight-ahead roots rock somewhere between the Lumineers and

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

." Jerry Shriver of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' proclaimed that the album is "Passionate and self-assured, this trio's debut treads a middle ground between Mumford bombast and neo-folkie navel gazing" that has "a rootsy brew flavored with close harmonies and light on hipster pretension." At

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, Steve Leftridge highlighted that some may criticize the effort because it may seem a bit "sounding trend derivative", which he found the album "simply too good to need any qualifying", and this led him to note that it's hard "to knock and the year's Americana debut to beat."

Commercial performance

The album charted at No. 64 on the ''Billboard'' 200, as well as placing at No. 14 (Alternative albums), No. 12 (Folk albums), No. 10 (Independent albums), No. 20 (Rock albums) and No. 58 (Current albums).

Track listing

Personnel

* Zach Williams – guitar, lead vocals, songwriter * Kanene Doheney Pipkin – mandolin, vocals, songwriter * Brian Elmquist – guitar, vocals, songwriter * Ben Mars – upright bass, electric bass * Brian Murphy – accordion, keyboards, piano * Matt Knapp – guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar * Brian Griffin – drums, percussion * Jason Pipkin – banjo, mandolin * Andy Leftwich – fiddle, mandolin * Mark Hill – bass guitar * Charlie Peacock – engineer, producer, piano, trumpet,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ * Jerry McPherson – guitar, electric guitar * Ken Lewis – percussion * Eric Ryan Anderson – photography * Sam Ashworth – engineer, acoustic guitar * Richie Biggs – engineer, mixing * Michelle Box – A&R * Caleb Clardy – songwriter * Trisha Ivy – songwriter * Matthew Perryman Jones – songwriter * Richard Dodd – mastering * Jessica Evans – art direction, design * Leanne Ford – wardrobe * Erin Green – hair stylist, makeup * Jay Harren – A&R * James Sweeting – engineer, production coordination, programming * Tracy Zamot – public relations

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lone Bellow, The 2013 debut albums The Lone Bellow albums Albums produced by Charlie Peacock