Today, The Sweet Water Warblers, featuring Lindsay Lou, May Erlewine, and Rachael Davis, announce the release of their debut album The Dream That Holds This Child, out May 15th, 2020 and available to pre-order now. Premiering the first single, “Turn to Stone” with American Songwriter earlier this week, the track is now available on all digital service providers, here. The Dream That Holds This Child marks the first full-length album from The Sweet Water Warblers, who first came together in 2014 after being asked to perform together for a single performance at the Hoxeyville Music Festival and found a deep creative connection with one another. Currently on tour in their home state of Michigan, The Sweet Water Warblers can be seen performing in East Lansing and Grand Rapids, with more dates to be announced soon. All confirmed dates can be found at www.sweetwaterwarblers.com
The first single from The Dream That Holds This Child, “Turn To Stone,” features and was co-produced by Maya de Vitry, who brought the song to the trio. “We finished the song together,” Lindsay Lou explains. “The first time we sang it, we felt like we were transcending into the cosmos.” Erlewine continues, “This song is about connecting to a deeper source, a reminder that we are feeling hearts moving through this world. Sometimes really living, really loving, really grieving… lies in our ability to listen to ourselves and each other.” For Davis, the song represents strength – and its existence in surprising places and in unexpected ways – describing, “Turn To Stone’ is a lyrical, melodic and harmonic representation of how strength can exist within surrender and release… It is a musical reflection of the idea that a strong wind can topple the strongest oak, while the smallest blade of grass only bends and survives.”
The song, with its themes of strength through connection, can also be seen as a larger reflection of the Warblers relationship as a trio. Each of the members came together from their own regarded solo careers within the Americana and roots worlds. Whether it was the gospel and soul-laced melodies uncovered in Davis’ music, the Appalachian folk and country-leaning ballads belted out by Erlewine, or the versatile country soul and bluegrass roots of Lou’s band it was clear that the culmination of their talents would be unparalleled. From the beginning, there was a unique synergy between the three artists, a bond forged by a mutual passion for social change and expansion of the soul through music.
The Dream That Holds This Child was produced by Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) and is set for release May 15, 2020. The album serves to empower and uplift spirits, to offer refuge, and provide solidarity through its focus on modern femininity. “Our sound is a place of refuge. Its roots are deep, and its arms are stretched open wide,” says Lou. “This is the gospel of creating beauty from pain."
“We recognize an imbalance in the imagery and symbolism of the divine,” adds Davis. “When we sing gospel, we sing from a source deep within us that honors and elevates the feminine as much as the masculine.” The artists’ statements come with disclaimer — not to mistake the album’s nurturing tenderness for weakness. These songs emerged from the deep darkness of the earth and were sung awake through relentless storm. As Erlewine puts it, “We are here, very much, on purpose. This sentiment is so beautifully captured by the album’s artwork, which features the blooming stages of the Moonflower. The flower represents blossoming in dark times and the magic of feminine intuition."
The Dream That Holds This Child Tracklisting:
1. Turn To Stone
2. Wishing Well
3. Something More
4. Mad At You
5. Hallelujah
6. Summertime
7. Right With Me
8. Righteous Road
9. Do You Know The Chorus
10. Mother’s Voice
