Fever Breaks
Studio album by
Josh Ritter
ReleasedApril 26, 2019
Recorded2018
GenreFolk rock
Length45:22
LabelPytheas Recordings
ProducerJason Isbell
Josh Ritter chronology
Gathering
(2017)		 Fever Breaks
(2019)		 Spectral Lines
(2023)

Fever Breaks is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. The album was released on April 26, 2019, by Pytheas Recordings.[1][2]

Composition

Ritter tapped American singer-songwriter Jason Isbell to produce Fever Breaks, as well as Isbell's band The 400 Unit on instrumental support.[3] Isbell's wife and collaborator Amanda Shires also provided input on the album process.[4] Ritter, who previously avoided writing songs about the political climate, said, "I thought I could turn my face away and write love songs, but all I could see was the world in flames."[5]

Release

On January 29, 2019, Ritter announced that his tenth album, Fever Breaks would be released on April 26 via Pytheas. Accompanying the album announcement was the first single release, "Old Black Magic."[6]

Critical reception

Fever Breaks
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Rolling Stone[8]
NPR(favorable)[9]
The Irish Times[10]
Associated Press(favorable)[11]
Allmusic[12]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[13]
Exclaim!7/10[14]
The Spill Magazine[15]

Fever Breaks was released to a generally positive critical reception. Review aggregator website Metacritic assigned the album an average score of 75, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[7]

Rolling Stone, which rated the album three and a half stars out of five, said that, while the album "blazes no new emotional or musical ground," it "feels like a vital career summation, a survey course sampler in a word-swilling artist's narrative gifts and endearing empathy."[8] NPR, similarly, praised the way in which Ritter "tweaks and further reinvigorates a sound and songwriting approach that's lost none of its vitality or urgency in 20 years."[9] Comparisons were drawn to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen on tracks "The Torch Committee,"[14][15] "Old Black Magic,"[10] and "Ground Don't Want Me,"[12] while "Losing Battles" bore comparisons to Crazy Horse.[11][12]

Many reviews praised Isbell's production. The Line of Best Fit said that Isbell and his band give "Ritter's material a whole lot of muscle and bite in places,"[13] while The Irish Times, giving the album three stars out of five, noted that Isbell contributed to "a tougher framework around this latest batch of Ritter's songs."[10] James Christopher Monger of Allmusic said that the 400 Unit provided "soaring harmonies and some truly emotive violin work," which added "considerable sonic heft to the proceedings."[12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Ground Don't Want Me"4:18
2."Old Black Magic"4:46
3."On the Water"3:31
4."I Still Love You (Now and Then)"4:53
5."The Torch Committee"5:43
6."Silverblade"4:04
7."All Some Kind of Dream"4:18
8."Losing Battles"4:22
9."A New Man"4:29
10."Blazing Highway Home"4:58
Total length:45:22

Charts

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] 48
UK Americana Albums (OCC)[17] 8
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[18] 25
US Billboard 200[19] 89
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] 12
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[21] 4

References

  1. ↑ Brittney McKenna (2019-01-29). "Hear Josh Ritter's New Song 'Old Black Magic'". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  2. ↑ "Fever Breaks by Josh Ritter on Apple Music". Music.apple.com. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  3. ↑ Martin, Montana (29 January 2019). "Josh Ritter Announces Jason Isbell-Produced New Album, Fever Breaks". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ↑ McKenna, Brittney (9 January 2019). "Inside Josh Ritter's New Album Collaboration With Jason Isbell". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Sam (3 September 2019). ""I thought I could turn away, but all I could see was the world in flames": Josh Ritter on Fever Breaks". Guitar.com. BandLab Technologies. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. ↑ McKenna, Brittney (29 January 2019). "Hear Josh Ritter's New 'Old Black Magic' From Jason Isbell-Produced LP". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Fever Breaks by Josh Ritter Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. 1 2 Bernstein, Jonathan (26 April 2019). "Review: Josh Ritter Makes Dependable Heartland Roots-Rock on 'Fever Breaks'". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 Thompson, Stephen (18 April 2019). "Review: Josh Ritter's 'Fever Breaks' With A Reinvigorated Sound". NPR. National Public Radio. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 Clayton-Lea, Tony (25 April 2019). "Josh Ritter: Fever Breaks review – If it ain't broke . . ". The Irish Times. The Irish Times DAC. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. 1 2 Gorondi, Pablo (25 April 2019). "Review: Josh Ritter's 'Fever Breaks' is especially engaging". APNews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Monger, James Christopher. "Fever Breaks - Josh Ritter". Allmusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  13. 1 2 Kuscher, Oliver (2 May 2019). "On Fever Breaks, Josh Ritter sounds better than ever". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. 1 2 Doole, Kerry (30 April 2019). "Josh Ritter Fever Breaks". Exclaim!. Ian Danzig. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. 1 2 Davey, Kieran. "Spill Album Review: Josh Ritter - Fever Breaks". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Josh Ritter Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Josh Ritter Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Josh Ritter Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
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