Album Review: Josh Ritter, Spectral Lines

Four years and countless momentous events – on both a global and personal scale – have passed since Josh Ritter released his last album, the lauded Fever Breaks. An alt-country and folk rock-oriented affair that had producer Jason Isbell’s boot prints all over it, that album found the singer-songwriter delving into politics, and the state of the US, with more fervour than ever.

Now, he’s returned with the dramatically more sensitive and introspective Spectral Lines – embracing an unabashed sincerity and vulnerability right from the outset, with the spoken word opener ‘Sawgrass’.

The LP is dedicated to the memory of his mother, who died in 2021. “She loved sunsets and cloudscapes, the smell of wind through the pines,” Josh wrote in a tribute at the time – and whether intentionally or not, this is exactly the sort of imagery he’s conjured up on Spectral Lines, through both his immersive lyricism and instrumentation.

While he occasionally offers up experimental touches, the warm, carefully curated atmosphere is shaped, more than anything, by restraint and reflection.

At the heart of it, this is an album that exalts the power of shared human experiences – opting for a comforting, tender authenticity in the face of the chaos of modern life.

Out April 28.

Pre-order/pre-save Spectral Lines here.

Read our review of Josh Ritter's recent Dublin gig here.