Review Summary: Fruit Bats doing what they do
Fruit Bats’ career trajectory has been rather unusual. A relatively obscure act on the rootsy fringes of the indie scene for nearly two decades, they abruptly produced a near-masterpiece in 2021’s
The Pet Parade, something that, frankly, their previous albums had shown no indication was in the cards. Don’t take this as too insulting - Fruit Bats have very few unenjoyable songs in their oeuvre, but generally tend towards decent but inoffensive music while managing to incorporate one or two certified massive jams per release.
The Pet Parade, from that perspective, was a major shock to the system, revealing that Fruit Bats had “tapped into a previously unforeseen font of creativity”, as I wrote in my review (quoting yourself is a very cool move, I’m told). Given its predecessor, therefore,
A River Running To Your Heart is an intriguing release. Will it see Fruit Bats reverting back to their old ways and merely producing an easy-going listen dismissable as the work of a “singles band”? Or was their evolution on
The Pet Parade simply who they are now?
It seems evident to me that Fruit Bats have aspired to continue where they left off with their latest. The guts of their new LP share a mood and ethos to its predecessor, prone to thoughtful reveries, ideally suited to porch sitting and similarly mellow moments. However, aiming for a feat and accomplishing it are two different things. Simply put,
A River Running To Your Heart lacks the consistency of quality which made
The Pet Parade stand out so dramatically from Fruit Bats’ previous output. In addition, this is a more sonically-diverse release, featuring an ambient introduction (“Dim North Star”) and a trippy near instrumental (“Meridian”), a development which has both positives and negatives, but ultimately seems to detract from the overall package. All told, while this album should broadly appeal to those won over by the band’s last effort, the headline is that this is a more uneven release which sees the group falling into old habits.
In the wide view, this album is exactly what you’d expect from Fruit Bats. It’s fairly slim in runtime, very chill, and could conceivably be described as anything from indie pop to country rock without a listener batting an eye. There are songs notably catchy (“Rushin’ River Valley”), affecting (“We Used To Live Here”), and both of those previous descriptors at the same time (the goofily-titled “Jesus Tap Dancing Christ (It’s Good To Be Home)”). Those three aforementioned tracks are arguably the best material here, and rank in the upper tier of tunes in the Fruit Bats discography. The rest of the tracklist is generally pleasant, anchored as usual by Eric D. Johnson’s appealing vocals, but there’s also a few songs which are (unusually for this group) bordering on irritating - particularly “See The World By Night” (with some repetitious vocals) and “Tacoma” (which is weirdly beat-heavy and doesn’t have many redeeming features).
Fruit Bats have never been a particularly ambitious group, and that’s not meant as a dig. You know what you’re getting from them, as a general rule - accessible and laid-back tunes, well-crafted and well-played, at the edge of hippie and hipster. After
The Pet Parade saw the group stay within their usual confines, but execute their formula to unprecedented success, it seems ultimately fair to say that
A River Running To Your Heart is the band reverting to the mean. By all means, if you want a reliably enjoyable and undemanding listen or to find some chill indie/Americana tunes for your playlist, this will hit the spot, but don’t expect anything revelatory.
