For Chapel Hill, North Carolina natives Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller, combining a post-punk background with a heavy-psych/metal one did not in fact yield a third band of equally hardcore sounds. The combination instead led to Mount Moriah and an excellent full-length debut that offers a new take on classic American folk music.
The nine-track album has just about every americana/folk sound covered. Lament, the first single, is the album’s foot-stomping track. And there’s gospel-influenced sounds in more than a few of the songs. Lead singer Heather McEntire’s soft but sharp voice anchors every track and each song is beautifully written. The band’s honest and simple songwriting is most evident in the opening track, Only Way Out. “If you woulda stayed, well I woulda stayed,” McEntire sings. “If you woulda prayed, oh I did pray. But the only way to love something is to give it away.”
Most of the tracks are a bit slower than Lament, so it is the solid songwriting that sticks out upon first listen. But the instrumentation behind each tune, including aching guitars, is what holds the entire album together and adds depth. Members from other local North Carolina bands helped out on the record, along with members from St. Vincent, Gayngs and Megafaun. This americana folk album is really one album that carries with it “an indelible sense of place.”
One of the year’s best
Americana/folk debuts for sure. Mount Moriah is touring this summer with Indigo Girls. You can grab the album here.
Pretty awesome song- had not heard of them before.