Sermon on the Rocks
2015 studio album by Josh Ritter
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Sermon on the Rocks is the eighth full-length studio album, by singer/songwriter Josh Ritter. It was released October 16, 2015 on Pytheas Recordings.
| Sermon on the Rocks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 16, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | January 5–17, 2015[1] | |||
| Studio | The Parlor, New Orleans | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:41 | |||
| Label | Pytheas Recordings | |||
| Producer | Trina Shoemaker, Josh Ritter | |||
| Josh Ritter chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sermon on the Rocks | ||||
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Ritter described the record as "messianic oracular honky-tonk."
Background
American singer-songwriter Josh Ritter released his sixth full-length studio album, The Beast in Its Tracks, on March 5, 2013, via Pytheas Recordings.[2] The album, inspired by Ritter's 2011 divorce from fellow musician Dawn Landes, intentionally ended on a hopeful note, as Ritter told Boston, "I do believe that in all my records, I've never ended it on a 'down' note. I just don't believe in it. I want to leave a little fire to carry on into the next record."[3]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Irish Times | [6] |
| Raidió Teilifís Éireann | [7] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
NPR's Stephen Thomson said the album contains "some of Ritter's slipperiest, nimblest wordplay"[9] and Jonathan Bernstein of Rolling Stone commented that the record used "Eighties textures" and "vivid character sketches" to yield a very different result from its predecessor, The Beast in Its Tracks.[8]
Track listing
All songs written by Josh Ritter.
- "Birds of the Meadow" – 3:15
- "Young Moses" – 4:08
- "Henrietta, Indiana" – 3:43
- "Getting Ready To Get Down" – 3:16
- "Seeing Me Round" – 4:58
- "Where the Night Goes" – 3:49
- "Cumberland" – 2:17
- "Homecoming" – 5:31
- "The Stone" – 3:55
- "A Big Enough Sky" – 2:47
- "Lighthouse Fire" – 3:12
- "My Man on a Horse (is Here)" – 3:50
Personnel
Musicians
- Josh Ritter — acoustic and electric guitar, lead and harmony vocals
- Zachariah Hickman — upright and electric bass, acoustic and classical guitar, percussion, vocals
- Matt Barrick — drums, percussion, vocals
- Sam Kassirer — piano, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer, Hammond and Farfisa organs, percussion, vocals
- Josh Kaufman — acoustic, electric, 12-string Rickenbacker and slide guitar, electric mandolin, bongos, vocals
- Trina Shoemaker — percussion
Production
- Recorded at The Parlor, New Orleans, January 5–17, 2015
- Produced by Trina Shoemaker and Josh Ritter
- Recorded by Trina Shoemaker with Eric Heigel
- Mixed by Trina Shoemaker
- Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering
- Assistant Mastering Engineer: Maria Rice
Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[10] | 49 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[11] | 6 |
| US Americana/Folk Albums (Billboard)[12] | 1 |
| US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[13] | 5 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] | 8 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[15] | 4 |