The Meltdown present ‘River’, a rolling soul stomper led by twangy guitar and brash horns. River is first single from their new LP ‘It’s a Long Road’ coming this July, and the band‘s first release since their much loved self-titled 2017 album. River is a bold song from the get go and is driven by a powerful rhythm section performance, allowing vocalist, keyboard player and band leader Simon Burke to play it cool. The band keeps cooking throughout, the payoff being a screaming tenor sax solo by The Meltdown co-founder Lachlan McLean. River is a solid introduction to The Meltdown’s new material and of particular interest to fans of The Alabama Shakes, Lee Fields and classic golden era soul music.


Guitarist Tom Martin (The Putbacks) leads us into the track with a signature twangy lick, and we’re catapulted into a rolling shuffle feel with drums and guitar at the helm, and a chorus of horns as our sails. As we travel down the river, the track opens up for Simon’s sweet vocals and the story of heartache that drives the song. “I lie by the river, so cold and blue. My tears in the river, can’t let go of you” is the chorus refrain.


The high energy soul vibe of River is just one of the textures that The Meltdown use on It’s A Long Road. Throughout the album, the band explore a sonic palette reminiscent of golden era Southern soul studios from Memphis to Muscle Shoals, and in that tradition there’s as much as country and blues in the mix as there is soul and funk. River is available on all online platforms from May 6th, and preorders for It’s A Long Road on LP, CD and digital open on that date on Bandcamp.