New Music: Josaleigh Pollett – Like a River

With a new album and US tour coming at the end of the month, Josaleigh Pollett takes a moment to reflect on Like a River.

The Salt Lake City based artist brings the folk-like stillness of her voice to play on an arrangement that is hard to place. The acoustic guitar flows as gently as the vocals; percussion acts like a peal of thunder, the arrangement laps against the consciousness like wave after wave of electronic psychedelia. As the vocals put down layer after layer of hushed beauty before suddenly subsiding into silence, Like a River adopts a contemplative ambience – both for the artist and the listener.

Says Pollett about the song, which will also appear on her fourth album, If I Let It Quiet, “Like a River is about an attempt at quieting the noise of my own thoughts and of a chaotic world around me in order to try to be more resilient. A too-late-coffee-fueled yellow-light-lit silent moment – having arrived at myself just in time to feel my pulse speed up and the news of the day sweep me away into frothing rapids.”

“Hoping for the peace of a quiet riverbank, only to remember that a river is swift, chaotic, and ever-changing the earth beneath it. Inspired by Paul Simon’s Peace Like a River – a song I’ve always held in my heart as a beautiful protest song.

Sha adds, “This album is an exploration of what it takes to quiet the noise of geographical and emotional distance in order to hear ourselves and the ones who see us. In true independent DIY fashion and similar to 2023’s In The Garden, By The Weeds, If I Let It Quiet is recorded mostly at home between my Salt Lake City makeshift home studio and Jordan’s (Jordan Watko) apartment in Japan.”

“The difference this time is that we’re bringing in more collaborations. In particular, Andrew Goldring, who, in addition to mixing and mastering, brought deeper instrumentation to If I Let It Quiet.”

If I Let It Quiet is out on the 24th of July in digital and 45 RPM double vinyl formats via Lavender Vinyl and Audio Antihero. The album is now up for pre-order on Bandcamp.

Pollett’s tour to tie in with the album begins in her hometown on the 25th of July, and other dates include Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Denver. For ticket and venue details, as well as album news, connect with Josaleigh Pollett on TikTok, Facebook, Blue Sky, or Instagram.

Header image by P.J. Guinto