Nathaniel Rateliff’s focus on community building and creating a happy space for people to work is reflected in his latest two albums.
It’s easy to turn the volume up full blast when playing Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats and to refer to their hits as anthems. Turning an ear to the lyrics, however, line by line, it sinks in that a lot of struggle was experienced in making these songs. The tension in hardships relating to personal journeys with alcohol, relationships, life and death can be felt deeply upon inspection.
Although darkness is invariably imbued in his solo album, And It’s Still Alright (2020), hope shines its light on acceptance in his later album with The Night Sweats’ The Future (2021). Nathaniel speaks to this clearly when discussing his latest releases.
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These projects came to fruition during a time of turmoil experienced worldwide when many felt the search for meaning was no less daunting, even when experienced by society at large. During this time, Rateliff, his bandmates, and his collaborators managed to produce and release two beautiful albums, each one expressing the wonder of awakening the soul following a period of despair relatable for many but which came from a deeply personal place for Rateliff. His lyrics trawl the humour, heartbreak and necessary highs and lows involved in anyone’s search for community and hope.
Rateliff’s exploration of community is everywhere: in his music, on tour, amongst his bandmates and crew members, and in his foundation, The Marigold Project, which supports nonprofit organisations working on issues of economic, racial and social justice.
Rateliff explained that he started The Marigold Project to travel into different communities “To see the struggle that people have in those communities in different ways and to build relationships with those folks.”
“As we progress, and as civilisation continues to grow, it seems like we’re leaving a lot of people behind,” Rateliff stated thoughtfully. “There’s always work to be done.”
Efforts to give back to his community are equally applied to Rateliff’s personal life. Over the past several years, his relationship with alcohol led him to seek near-sobriety, not merely a necessary move for health reasons but also an engendered response to the experience of touring with twenty-six crew members and the realities of life on the road.
“I want to create a space for people to work. And suppose we’re spending this much time on the road. In that case, I want it to be a happy work environment.” tells Rateliff, “I feel like history has proven that there are certain approaches to living on the road that just don’t work, you know, and being an unreasonable asshole is one of the things that you’ll just run out of people to work with. No matter how talented you are.”
Rateliff comes across as someone seeking amends for his past and meaning in what his future holds in many of the lyrics of his songs. Redemption, written for the soundtrack of Justin Timberlake’s 2021 film Palmer, speaks to this search. For Rateliff, deliverance takes place in the standards he holds himself to, “Having more reasonable standards for myself, what I do and how that affects our relationships with others has been important” he says, “Redemption for me would be me letting myself be free.”
The powerful ballads of Rateliff and The Night Sweats are accompanied by reverberating steel strings, electric guitars, soft horns, and train beats. Mysticism is added to the pastoral verses sung by Rateliff on the melody of an organ that evokes ecstasy or introspection, depending on the space they are performed in.
Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats inspire new and old sounds that undoubtedly attest to their experiences writing, performing and growing together across the past decade. To narrow down what genre the band fall under is an unnecessary attempt to dull the range of sounds produced by these musicians. Their expressions of musicianship span across the plains that folk, soul, rock, blues, country and Americana have played upon for decades.
Returning to Australia for the first time in years, the band are taking to the stage on Thursday the 6th and Friday the 7th of April at Bluesfest in Byron Bay, then heading down to Melbourne on the 10th and 11th of April to play a sold-out show at the Forum with St. Paul and the Broken Bones.
Check out the latest tour dates here.
