Premiere: Ian Noe Shares New Track “Tom Barrett”
River Fools and Mountain Saints Out March 25th via Thirty Tigers
Mar 22, 2022
Photography by David McClister
Later this week, Kentucky singer/songwriter Ian Noe is set to return with his sophomore record, River Fools and Mountain Saints, coming March 25th via Thirty Tigers. His latest record was envisioned as a series of reflections on growing up in his native eastern Kentucky and character portraits of the people who shaped his life there. Noe imbues the record’s storytelling with sprawling drama, inspired by the full sound and grand ambitions of records like Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town or Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible.
Ahead of the record’s full release, Noe has also shared one last track from the album, “Tom Barrett,” premiering with Under the Radar.
With “Tom Barrett,” Noe offers a portrait of the vets who populated his town as he grew up. He outlines the contours of a life spent in violence, only for the song’s veteran to return to a world that had left him by the wayside. Noe traces his character portrait with stirring lyricism layered over top of a warm acoustic instrumental, contrasting the sunny pastoral tones of Appalachian folk with his dark narrative. The resulting track feels like an unvarnished piece of stark storytelling, yet it is rendered in beautiful detail thanks to Noe’s gentle melodies and the homespun analog production courtesy of Andrija Tokic (Margo Price, Alabama Shakes).
As Noe describes, “‘Tom Barrett’ is about a relentless soldier’s life, inspired by local vets I used to know, or knew about. I talk about it a lot but juxtaposing dark themes or subject matter with upbeat melody is something I’ve always been drawn to. This song is an example of that.”
Check out the song below. River Fools and Mountain Saints is out March 25th via Thirty Tigers.
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