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Song

Horse To Water

Artist

These Wicked Rivers

These Wicked Rivers backstory

Derbyshire’s NWOCR trailblazers burst out of Belper in 2014 and swiftly forged a reputation for incendiary live shows.

Dazzling debut Eden made waves in 2020 but it was follow-up Force Of Nature that really set classic rock tongues wagging.

After delighting in that 2024 drop we said ‘With their new album, These Wicked Rivers have honed their sound, nailed their identity and knocked on the door of greatness.’.

And an assured set rightly bagged a Rushonrock Record Of The Week gong.

Backed by the growing and increasingly vociferous Rivers Family, John Hartwell and co. have become staples of the UK festival scene.

And the band has sold out shows across Britain, the Netherlands, France and Germany on a rock and roll journey that’s only just gathering pace.

In lead guitarist Arran Day’s own words

“This was one of the first songs from the new album that we started writing and performing live.

“It’s already a staple of our live set since our fans seem to love it.

“For me it’s a song that captures all the magic we have within the band including the rich vocal harmonies between John, Rich and Dan.

“And there’s the call and response part between the guitar and bass.

“It’s a song that I believe, when people hear it, will light a fire inside of them that only rock and roll can.

“We’ve tried to create a sound inspired by all the wonderful energy of the 1970s and Horse To Water is a song we’re truly all proud of.”

The verdict on Horse To Water

There’s a reason Horse To Water’s already a firm favourite with fans of These Wicked Rivers.

Rich in groove-laden, 70s-soaked heavy blues, a typically weighty riff ushers in one of the band’s best songs yet.

And it’s wonderful to hear one of the NWOCR’s proudest torchbearers benefitting from a perfectly polished production courtesy of fellow Belper native Andy Sneap.

The Grammy Award winner manages to channel the Rivers at their swaggering best as Horse To Water evolves into a richly engaging rocker… replete with pin sharp vocal harmonies.

There’s more than a hint of classic Allman Brothers about a tune that’s soaked in retro cool.

And if Horse To Water’s a sign of things to come then this year’s new long player threatens to blow the band’s previous work out of the water.

Where These Wicked Rivers are concerned just dive right in. You won’t be disappointed.

What’s next for These Wicked Rivers

The band’s just announced a limited run of acoustic-led August shows.

New album Fire And Folklore drops on October 2 with a full UK headline tour kicking off at Newcastle’s The Grove on November 19.

Main image: Rob Blackham