![]() The band appeared on the late-night television program in anticipation of its debut album, which is out today. It was a different story 12 days later, when Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats performed the same song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Like when someone tripped over one of those cables and cut the power during the group’s new single, “S.O.B.” But the crowd carried the tune, singing the melody until the lights and the speakers turned back on and Rateliff picked up right where he left off. But the setup brought certain challenges. The band took the gig because of the intimate setting, Rateliff said. “There’s no advanced technology,” the frontman said. OpenAir Celebrates 'Nathaniel Rateliff Day'. ![]() Instead they performed in a backyard on a deck that Rateliff helped build by hand. When Denver band Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats took the stage in front of a packed hometown crowd on July 24, 2015, it wasn’t at an auditorium or at a bar. Jones/CPR News) Nathaniel Rateliff sits in the makeshift studio he built in the attic of his Denver home on Tuesday, Aug. Nobody is doing white boy soul at the same level they are, and with The Future, they prove that they can still hit those highs.(Corey H. While it doesn’t always ascend to those delirious highs that he and the band are capable of, The Future does prove how essential Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats are to current popular music. ![]() There were inklings of that in both Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and Tearing at the Seams, but it’s more front and centre on The Future. The triumph of Rateliff over adversities is essential not just to his personal narrative but also to the music that he plays. The Future dispenses with the twee folk, going back to that R&B drive that necessitates the power of a band like The Night Sweats. But it certainly matches the power of 2018’s Tearing at the Seams, which found Rateliff blending his more fellow and frantic sides together without getting the best out of either. There’s no standout single like ‘S.O.B.’, nothing that matches the barnstorming power of ‘Look It Here’ or ‘Trying So Hard Not To Know’, and nothing as tender as ‘Wasting Time’ or ‘Thank You’. Truth be told, The Future isn’t as good of an album as the band’s killer 2015 self-titled debut, an album that seems to age like a fine wine with every passing year. Because The Future is a darker record, The Night Sweats don’t get a lot of chances to explode into that joyous frenzy that they can conjure up, but on tracks like album closer ‘Love Don’t’, you can practically feel them ready to burst into party mode. It’s appropriate that the band are signed to Stax Records because the remnants of The M.G.’s and the Bar-Keys are all over the backing band’s tight, country-fried soul. The swampy groove on ‘What If I’, while the moody ‘I’m On Your Side’ can’t help but get a bit of vibrancy with every saxophone blast that comes through the speakers. Even when Rateliff sings of love and support, like on ‘Love Me Till I’m Gone’ and ‘Baby I Got Your Number’, there’s still a black cloud of concern that hangs over it all.Įven if Rateliff isn’t as interested in putting on his best Otis Redding impression, you can hear The Night Sweats itching to get going. Instead, the album is populated with a more realistic, downtrodden cast of characters: people whose lives have passed them by, people who can’t tell if they’ve arrived or gotten lost along the way, people who lean on others who might not reciprocate. As The Future moves forward, the triumphant characters become more complex and harder to find. ‘Face Down in the Moment’ continues those feelings of discontent, focusing on the “strong current that can sweep you off your feet”. There’s a direct feeling of discontent within Rateliff’s voice through The Future whether that’s lyrically moving through tough times or physically shouting his demons away, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Rateliff remains one of music’s most affecting voices. From there, The Night Sweats reestablish their soulful groove on ‘Survivor’, which contains more than a few shades of ‘You Worry Me’, at least until Rateliff attacks the mic on the chorus.
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