Photo by Travis Latam
Review: Billy Raffoul finally makes a rock record with ‘When I Cross the River’
Raffoul’s new album is the summer’s must-hear albums.
It only took him more than 10 years, but Billy Raffoul finally made the rock album he always wanted. When I Cross the River, the second album he released this summer, following a self-titled project in July, fuses all the work he put in Nashville and the globe-trotting he’s done over the years. What results is an arena-sized collection that spans essentials of life, such as love, what hometown means, and missing those you fall out of touch with. 10 songs whisk by the eardrums with his signature vocal rasp that sends chills up the backbone.
With the titular cut, which he co-wrote with none other than Linda Perry, Raffoul references the Detroit River, which he would frequently cross on his way back home, Leamington, Ontario. “Little did we know we’d soon wake up to find Saturday morning’s gonna be a little rough,” he aches, catching wistfulness in his fists. “So hold on tight to Friday night, forget about growing up.” Time’s merciless hand sends him cascading into the future, whether he’s ready or not. But so goes human existence. That longing oozes onto the rest of the record in varying doses — laying it on thick with the love song “Get Along,” which also balances the music group debate of The Beatles versus The Rolling Stones, or in methodical drips as he does on “Young,” the self-described anthem of the whole album.
When I Cross the River does plenty of unexpected zig-zagging along the way. From the acoustic-wrought “Born to Love” to the jangly “Little Girl” and the evocative send-off “Where the Skies are Blue,” Raffoul stretches out his wings and soars high above, letting the audience experience the bird’s-eye view of his life’s story. This moment in time is a transcendent one, in which he finetunes his musical identity as an artist and human being. “I’ll be coming home soon,” he sings on the very last song. That manifesto etches itself onto the record, giving it plenty of lyrical and thematic heft.
Billy Raffoul’s When I Cross the River is, without a doubt, among the year’s most emotive projects. Don’t sleep on it!
