Josh Ritter Attempts to Reengage on His Latest LP » PopMatters

In I Believe in You, My Honeydew, Josh Ritter still sounds refined, if not a little rough around the edges. He recorded the album with longtime collaborators, the Royal City Band, which features Zachariah Hickman (acoustic and electric bass, thumb piano, mandolin), Rich Hinman (guitars, pedal steel, mandolin), Ray Rizzo (drums, percussion), and Sam Kassirer (piano, organ, synthesizer, accordion), the latter again taking the helm as producer.

Over the past few years, Ritter has admittedly struggled to find his muse, which he refers to as his “honeydew”. As a result, he made the conscious decision to write to his muse instead. Those intentions are met with mixed results, primarily due to the variety of styles and influences that present themselves. Some of the tracks are compelling, and others equally humdrum. The record plays like a seasoned musician pressing hard to re-engage with his craft, only to discover that he somehow missed the moment.

It wasn’t so long ago that Ritter sounded full of life on the Jason Isbell-produced Fever Breaks (2019), but he then eased back into a more comfortable mode on Spectral Lines (2023) and subsequent recordings. Ritter once felt compelled to protest the absurdity surrounding him, yet here he seems content to kick the can down the road, as he concedes in the lyrics from “Noah’s Children”: “Come out of the water a little wiser down the line.”

Ritter often relies on confessional modes of expression over confrontational ones. Even the finger-plucked protest piece “Truth Is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Binding)”, originally featured on a 2022 EP of the same name, is as much about a former love and the wonders of the universe as it is about the essential nature of truth. He still speaks about the human condition, but the passion he channeled a half-dozen years ago only rarely peaks through, mostly in favor of gospel conventions.

At the same time, the record seeks to capture something as audacious as what it means to be human, expressing feelings that include being “lonely, scared, uncertain, joyful, [and] righteous”. When plagued by feelings about how difficult a time it is to be alive, Ritter urges us to take a path defined by patience—be plainspoken and honest, listen, and learn how to relate to one another once again. He does this with rare poetic sensibility and the odd Biblical allusion thrown in for good measure.

I Believe in You, My Honeydew features a spectrum of Americana influences, including Mark Knopfler (“Noah’s Children”), Steve Earle (“Kudzu Vines”), and the Band (“The Wreckage of One Vision of You”). That is not to mention the Bruce Springsteen-indebted “Wild Ways”, with its uplifting refrain “I hear a higher calling.” Even a gifted songwriter like Ritter cannot steer clear of the masters, but he sounds best when leaning into his own style. On the triumphant “You Won’t Dig My Grave”, built around drums, piano, and slide guitar, one can feel the joy that comes from such a simple endeavor: seek to outlive others who have something to gain by rewriting your story.

Josh Ritter evokes an artist like Hiss Golden Messenger in terms of age, wisdom, and style. Although he and MC Taylor hail from very different parts of the country, each has established a signature sound and is highly regarded by his peers. Like Taylor, Ritter seems to be searching for something more after all these years. There is no doubt that he has found the sweet spot as a contemporary folk musician with progressive themes. Still, he remains intent on exploring different musical expressions (as evident on the title track here). Ritter may never fully settle down, but listeners can still hope for a little more inspiration.

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