GRETA VAN FLEET - STARCATCHER
There are few bands who arrive on the scene with such definition of sound and purpose as Greta Van Fleet. Putting out three albums and one EP in five years, with every track on every album perfectly defined and assembled to feel like a song you’ve been listening to since you first came across the world of what now gets referred to as “classic rock.”
This third album, Starcatcher, picks up exactly where Greta Van Fleet left off, delivering 10 tracks of artfully rendered 70s reminiscent hard-rock.
The album opens with crunchy electric pianos, tonally iconic for the period Greta Van Fleet reminds so many listeners of. Within a few short bars, however, this first track - ‘Fate of the Faithful’ - kicks into full force.
‘Fate of the Faithful’ is a perfect album opener, for listeners already familiar with Greta Van Fleet it will reassure you this album will provide more of the rock mastery which you’ve come to love; and for a new listener it provides a cross section of what you can expect for the rest of the album ahead. A band who is not afraid to both go full-ham on the rock sound with shredding guitar solos, ever rising distorted yet controlled falsetto vocals; but who are also not afraid to pull back and restrain the power of their sound to give it room to breath. It also gives the occasional glimpse into the level of musicality which is executed by all of the Greta Van Fleet members, with complex guitar licks and a solo; unconventional harmony; and triplet-polyrhythms which the musicians and vinyl listener-types will be highlighting for years to come when you ask them what their favourite album is.
The first single on the album, ‘The Falling Sky’ is propelled by the rhyme-laden poetic lyricism of Josh Kiszka along with his brother Jake’s americana guitar riff. The two give each other space to play until the chorus, where a wall of sound takes shape, driven by an iconic rock “whoa-oh” and the simple line “holding up the falling sky” - lending a fantastical reality to the song which in verses reads like advice for life: “Life is sorted and never thwarted / it’s just supported by being well.”
The fantastical nature of the Greta Van Fleet escalates with ‘Sacred The Thread’ - a walk-like-a-badass anthem. The vocals are restrained throughout the majority of the song, letting the fullness of Josh’s voice show, leaning into the depth which defies his young age. Alongside this the lyrics in the chorus conjure beauty and mysticism as Josh croons “I’ve caught the wind in a kite of dreams, in a flight of seams / Like freedom sewn, and the people roar, and the people soar / Sacred the thread.”
The otherworldly elements of Starcatcher reach a peak with Meeting The Master. The song can be divided into two acts: a duo between acoustic guitar and vocals, and a swelling epic-ballad.
The first-half builds slowly with the ethereal tones of a 12-string guitar sharing space with the reflective lyrics pondering the universe. With the addition of light percussion as the track slowly builds, and the subtle reversed guitar lines, the flavour of this first act is like the feeling of sitting at a campfire, with Josh singing as though the lyrics are coming to him as he sings.
The second act has the vocals unleashed to become grittier in places and softened to little more than a calming “oooh” in other places, the acoustic guitar still present but overtaken by an electric which continuously grows and experiments much like Josh’s vocals in the first half; and building strings, reverberating vocals, and additional layers of instrumentation which create a glorious cacophony.
The album closes with the appropriately titled ‘Farewell for Now’ - which has Greta Van Fleet reflecting on shared experience with their listeners, an apt concept for a band whose popularity exploded during the pandemic.
“We have shared with you our stories / Had ourselves a really big time / Fought in battles far from the homeland / Made love, even drank from the wine” the first verse reads sentimentally.
The song continues as it began, with an explosive chorus and a grand guitar solo, before parting ways with an ode to their listeners which it takes no struggle to imagine a concert also being closed with. “Gathered here tonight / Did it up just right / It’s all for you.”
Between these singles Greta Van Fleet experiment with sounds they have tested across their previous albums. ‘Waited All Your Life’ is a modern take on the classic-rock formula and delivers everything which the band have promised since they got their first fans; ‘Runaway Blues’ a short and sweet, hectic, blues rock jam; ‘The Indigo Streak’ is a stripped back, simpler than usual track for Greta Van Fleet, and plows forward with a simple purpose, employing an excellent riff and pounding drums along with a wailing of “Into the Ether” in the chorus to drive the song into listeners minds and get them nodding or thrashing along.
Starcatcher achieves what the title sets out to do, and reaches astronomic heights with songs achieve otherworldly beauty; and others still which capture the hectic rock energy which has come to be so well loved by so many fans. There is no doubt that this album will be fuel for many more exciting concerts which Greta Van Fleet have become so well known for.
Nicholas Roberts
★★★★★