The Mountain is You

As the morning sun melts the snow on the high mountain peaks the clear fresh waters gather from the Mountain Stream. Its constant energy cascades and tumbles over rocks and crags forming pools and waterfalls that give new life to high soaring birds and other mountain animals. The power of the water builds to form its own path where it plunges into the Caverns Of Tranquillity. New sounds take to the air as if in nature's own cathedrals, the voices of nature are blended in song with the meandering waters. Bursting from the rock face in a sunlit waterfall the stream forms a rainbow in the sky and is reborn into the Peaceful Waters of a Happy Valley. The air is filled with the sound of birdsong, deer and other animals that come to drink from the Mountain Stream to find peace and tranquillity…

Dierks Bentley has shared details for his upcoming ninth studio album The Mountain, including its release date and a list of special guest collaborators. Scheduled for release on June 8th, The Mountain will consist of 13 new tracks and features a diverse range of musical guests, including country duo Brothers Osborne, Americana favorite Brandi Carlile and bluegrass stalwarts Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Tim O'Brien.

When the Mountain Goats got together in March 2020, it was to make not one album, but two. The idea was to again work with Matt Ross-Spang, the dashing Memphis wunderkind. Matt pitched we spend a week at Sam Phillips Recording, his home base in Memphis, followed by another at the storied Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a plan that dovetailed nicely with John’s notion of corralling these songs into two complementary batches: one light, one dark. The Memphis album Getting Into Knives, would be brighter, bolder, marked by rich and vibrant hues; the Muscle Shoals album Dark in Here, is quieter, smokier, but more deeply textured and intense.

This is an album with a difference. If you’re looking for songs that grind, you’ll find them here in the title track, “The Prophets and The Planet” and “The Saints.” If you’re looking for inspirational songs, you’ll find them here in “Die Empty” and “Time Goes On”. But if hot songs are all you’re after you’re going to miss the true gems of this piece. The Prophets and The Planet is not just a collection of great songs, instead it’s one of the few concept albums of its kind. It leads those who care to follow through a deep cavern of truth and expression that stirs up broken dreams and bleeds hope for every life…