I’m pretty sure I came upon Oregon’s Richmond Fontaine backwards. After enjoying frontman Willy Vlautin’s novel The Free (a chance discovery which is a longish story in itself, involving a postal mix up and the author Roxane Gay), I went back to see where Vlautin had cut his writing teeth to find a rather prolific band dating right back to 1996’s Safety. Delving into this back catalogue I found a glut of well-crafted, carefully written albums which blur the border between folk songs and short fiction. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Vlautin also finds the time to record with The Delines, who’s album Colfax Avenue came out last year.
But anyway, You Cant Go Back If There Is Nothing To Go Back To is the band’s eleventh record (at least by my count). They recently put out a trailer for the release, which hints at some rather atmospheric Americana, as well as the lead track ‘Wake Up Ray’. Have a look/listen below:
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You Cant Go Back If There Is Nothing To Go Back To is set for release on the 4th March 2016 via Décor Records. The Free came out last year on Faber & Faber and is available from all good book shops.
