The River Has Many Voices

The River Has Many Voices is one Matthew Payne…now residing in the hills around Austin, Tx… The sound and style of “I We Us Are Was Were Is” is utterly contemporary, and individual songs wouldn’t sound out of place on radio programmes where artists and groups such as Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Mumford And Sons are heavily featured.

As the new indie-folk revival gathers pace, Payne will surely find his place at a top table. There’s a dreamlike quality present throughout the record, which provides instant, lasting comfort and reassurance. The warmth of the production and the instrumentation, which includes keyboards and strings, offers misty backing to the songs of love, loss and constant change. The opening number “Simple Mornings” is fragile and delicate, and quite beautiful. Piano takes the strain, and a lonely harmonica adds detail. “Our Forever Is Now” seems somehow simpler, but perhaps it’s just a shift of focus to the song, and “The Changes” follows a similar, successful route. It ends with “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway”, and epic heartbreaker, flawlessly realized, it closes the collection on a substantial, significant high. - Leicester Bangs

The River Has Many Voices is one Matthew Payne…now residing in the hills around Austin, Tx… The sound and style of “I We Us Are Was Were Is” is utterly contemporary, and individual songs wouldn’t sound out of place on radio programmes where artists and groups such as Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Mumford And Sons are heavily featured.

As the new indie-folk revival gathers pace, Payne will surely find his place at a top table. There’s a dreamlike quality present throughout the record, which provides instant, lasting comfort and reassurance. The warmth of the production and the instrumentation, which includes keyboards and strings, offers misty backing to the songs of love, loss and constant change. The opening number “Simple Mornings” is fragile and delicate, and quite beautiful. Piano takes the strain, and a lonely harmonica adds detail. “Our Forever Is Now” seems somehow simpler, but perhaps it’s just a shift of focus to the song, and “The Changes” follows a similar, successful route. It ends with “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway”, and epic heartbreaker, flawlessly realized, it closes the collection on a substantial, significant high. - Leicester Bangs

“The River Has Many Voices’ EP, Barton Creek, is like Texas itself. It’s a whispered horizon, gently settling into the space it inhabits. It’s more than a lullaby, although it is often peaceful and contemplative. Barton Creek is full of love and longing and heartbreak, bubbling within mastermind Matthew Payne’s gravelly but lovely voice. It is the cooler, quieter seasons — a perfect record for this time of year, and anytime you’re feeling thoughtful.”

“Payne recorded this record out in Dripping Springs, and you can hear the small town’s quiet evening walks and familiar smiles weaving throughout the folky tunes. I immediately thought of JBM when I heard Payne’s lonely harmonica cries, but Payne has a unique fingerprint in all he does. There are hat-tips to iconic youthful hangouts, like my own collegiate haunt, Spiderhouse coffee shop, as well as broader brushstrokes that make me believe my desert-loving father would be swept to his favorite golden, arid hills upon hearing them.”

“It is exciting to discover talented and brilliant Austin artists like Payne, and I’m excited to see what his future works bring to us. For now, I’ll do like I did when my beloved Brazos were still roaming the Live Music Capital’s streets: I’ll turn Barton Creek up, roll my windows down and let Austin soak in what it has inspired.” - Austin Writes Music

“There was something about the voice on this that grabbed me immediately. Leisured, husky, intimate. Pleasantly reminiscent of English Americana folk singer Jason McNiff but more spare. The River Has Many Voices is Austin’s Matthew Payne. And Barton Creek is 6 beautiful songs of longing, loss, and optimism. The 41 minutes of the EP are bulked up by the heartrending 16 minutes of the closing track, “Pictures In A Thousand Words,” short cyclical vignettes of unfulfilled desire, offset by the glimmer of hope.”

“A deep, heartfelt album about the human condition.” - No Your Product

“There was something about the voice on this that grabbed me immediately. Leisured, husky, intimate. Pleasantly reminiscent of English Americana folk singer Jason McNiff but more spare. The River Has Many Voices is Austin’s Matthew Payne. And Barton Creek is 6 beautiful songs of longing, loss, and optimism. The 41 minutes of the EP are bulked up by the heartrending 16 minutes of the closing track, “Pictures In A Thousand Words,” short cyclical vignettes of unfulfilled desire, offset by the glimmer of hope.”

“A deep, heartfelt album about the human condition.” - No Your Product

“From Texas, America – the lead singer’s voice sounds like it’s been dragged through fences and bushes…and that’s what I love about it.” - Indie Music News - 2012

“The harmonies are both sweet and melancholy and create great audio texture… Payne has created a glorious tribute…”
- Indie Overdose -2012

“The harmonies are both sweet and melancholy and create great audio texture… Payne has created a glorious tribute…”
- Indie Overdose -2012

“…the magic immediately captivates us with titles such as “ Simple Morning ,” “Our Forever Is Now, ” “ Returning ” or “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway .”

Encore une belle découverte du côté de Bandcamp avec le groupe The River Has Many Voices, une formation Texane qui nous apporte l’album I We Us Are Was Were.




Mélangez, laissez infuser et vous obtenez cet opus folk profond et diablement doux qui transpire le calme et sait également nous montrer que le folk peut être bon sans forcément être énergique.

Une qualité vocale irréprochable qui pourra en surprendre certains vient rajouter plein de charme à ce travail collectif d’un niveau déjà très élevé avec de belles harmonies.

Bref, la magie opère immédiatement et nous envoute avec des titres tels que “Simple Morning”,”Our Forever Is Now”,”Returning” ou “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway”.

Avec seulement 8 titres , on peut regretter que ça se termine si vite. Alors pourquoi ne pas en profiter pour jeter un coup d’oeil à leurs précédentes galettes ?

Un album décidément pertinent et de qualité auquel je n’ai pu résister, dispo sur la page Bandcamp du groupe en name your price.

Un groupe à surveiller de très près

Bonne écoute - Destinations Passions - Agnes

It was around the 4 minute mark of opening track Simple Mornings that I realised that I wanted to move to Texas. After all, Austin based one-man-band The River Has Many Voices’ Bandcamp page proudly states that this music is “born of the poetry and harmony of the hill country,” and if this is a true reflection of Texas, things must be pretty good out there.

But first, it is dark.

Things begin with a quiet, piano and vocal piece with tiny hints of things to come in the shape of some light string-arrangements. Suddenly, the curtains are drawn and the full majesty of the world outside streams through the glass. You can almost taste the air and feel the warmth as the song grows and swells before rolling gently into the distance.

We continue our tour of Texas with Our Forever Is Now, a syrupy ballad which while not entirely to my personal tastes still has a lot to recommend of it. Radiant strings playfully intertwine with a ghostly choir and while I am perhaps too cynical to enjoy it fully, I can at least appreciate the honesty of the lyrical content. If The River Has Many Voices isTexas, then Texans are definitely honest.

Honesty is my favourite trait of Matthew Payne’s (otherwise known as The River Has Many Voices) overall sound. It would be easy to shrug off I We Us Are Was Were Is as a straightforward singer-songwriter album, haunted by the ghosts of Gram Parsons andTownes Van Zandt, and shivering in the long shadow cast by Bob Dylan. Whereas their legendary work is definitely and unmistakeably inspired by the land of America and steeped in years of tradition, The River Has Many Voices sounds not just inspired by, but grown from the land. In fact the first words that come to mind when considering Mr Payne’s entire body of work thus far are words like, “Earthy”, “Clay”, “Soil” and“Dust”. It’s the honesty that comes from the ground; pure, straightforward and simple.

These traits shine on throughout the album, emphasised by the Earthy warmth of Not Even The Moon Could Dream You, the solid Clay of the already well established single New World, the damp, fresh Soil that is trodden by the stunning Lightning:Thunder and the dry Dusty breeze that blows through Returning.

In my lifetime I will most likely never be able to visit Texas, let alone live there. I We Us Are Was Were Is by The River Has Many Voices at least allows me to have an idea about what the hill country feels like.
You too, can enjoy your own personal tour of Texas by heading to the Bandcamp link above and downloading I We Us Are Was Were Is for yourself. The website advertises a physical CD edition of this album, but I can’t find any way to purchase one of those online. I can only speculate that these are available at The River Has Many Voices’ live shows, a full list of which is available on their website (link at the top of this page).

Before you go, you can listen to the entire album right here, right now and dream of the rolling hill country… - Space Giraffe - Alex Charteris

It was around the 4 minute mark of opening track Simple Mornings that I realised that I wanted to move to Texas. After all, Austin based one-man-band The River Has Many Voices’ Bandcamp page proudly states that this music is “born of the poetry and harmony of the hill country,” and if this is a true reflection of Texas, things must be pretty good out there.

But first, it is dark.

Things begin with a quiet, piano and vocal piece with tiny hints of things to come in the shape of some light string-arrangements. Suddenly, the curtains are drawn and the full majesty of the world outside streams through the glass. You can almost taste the air and feel the warmth as the song grows and swells before rolling gently into the distance.

We continue our tour of Texas with Our Forever Is Now, a syrupy ballad which while not entirely to my personal tastes still has a lot to recommend of it. Radiant strings playfully intertwine with a ghostly choir and while I am perhaps too cynical to enjoy it fully, I can at least appreciate the honesty of the lyrical content. If The River Has Many Voices isTexas, then Texans are definitely honest.

Honesty is my favourite trait of Matthew Payne’s (otherwise known as The River Has Many Voices) overall sound. It would be easy to shrug off I We Us Are Was Were Is as a straightforward singer-songwriter album, haunted by the ghosts of Gram Parsons andTownes Van Zandt, and shivering in the long shadow cast by Bob Dylan. Whereas their legendary work is definitely and unmistakeably inspired by the land of America and steeped in years of tradition, The River Has Many Voices sounds not just inspired by, but grown from the land. In fact the first words that come to mind when considering Mr Payne’s entire body of work thus far are words like, “Earthy”, “Clay”, “Soil” and“Dust”. It’s the honesty that comes from the ground; pure, straightforward and simple.

These traits shine on throughout the album, emphasised by the Earthy warmth of Not Even The Moon Could Dream You, the solid Clay of the already well established single New World, the damp, fresh Soil that is trodden by the stunning Lightning:Thunder and the dry Dusty breeze that blows through Returning.

In my lifetime I will most likely never be able to visit Texas, let alone live there. I We Us Are Was Were Is by The River Has Many Voices at least allows me to have an idea about what the hill country feels like.
You too, can enjoy your own personal tour of Texas by heading to the Bandcamp link above and downloading I We Us Are Was Were Is for yourself. The website advertises a physical CD edition of this album, but I can’t find any way to purchase one of those online. I can only speculate that these are available at The River Has Many Voices’ live shows, a full list of which is available on their website (link at the top of this page).

Before you go, you can listen to the entire album right here, right now and dream of the rolling hill country… - Space Giraffe - Alex Charteris