There’s a secret language that people communicate through. Most of us aren’t taught how to use it and, perhaps, for good reason. It’s powerful. It makes people change their minds about the most important subjects. And, it can turn the people who can speak it fluently into some of the most valuable voices in their community. Billy Raffoul heard that language being spoken early on.
That language is art. And the people who are creative and hard-working enough to want to become artists are forced to reckon early on with what learning this vocabulary might mean. Sure, they’ll get the opportunity to add to the beauty of the world. But will they be able to handle the burden of telling the truth all the time?
Billy Raffoul’s “When I Cross The River” is a soulful little pop-rock record that tries to do just two things: entertain audiences with pleasant, well-performed songs and tell the truth. In an era when people are confused about where to seek the truth, a pop song that can speak it is a valuable thing indeed.
Album opener, the title track, with gruff, Springsteen-styled vocals, is, in fact, an ode to Canada, the songwriter’s beloved nation that’s also represented through the artwork, and a call toward true love. It’s a journeyman’s song to a shore that they can just about glimpse in the distance.
There’s no time to get nervous or lose direction for Raffoul here. The acoustic-lead “Born to Love” is a song about how each person in this world craves affection and attention. The roadtrip-ready roots-rock of “Proving Ground” is a song for people chasing their dreams, no matter how far they have to go to find them. And “Little Girl” is a spirited number about wishing to protect the ones you care most about.
There’s the truth, sure, and Raffoul seems to have sworn to tell it. But the songwriter’s strengths shine through the most in the moments that he allows himself to be tested. On “Get Along,” he dreams of a playful confrontation between himself, a Beatles fan, and the father of his beloved, a Rolling Stones fan. (Still, wanting to be Lennon in ‘61 seems unusual). And, on the album closer, “Where the Skies are Blue,” the author dreams of, eventually, finding his way back home.
Billy Raffoul brings soulfulness to this set of songs written from the perspective of a young musician finding what it takes to tell the truth about love and life.
