THE FALLING SKY - GRETA VAN FLEET

Rock powerhouse Greta Van Fleet has had their fan base dying of anticipation for their upcoming album: Starcatcher. With three singles already being dropped, the group released the fourth and final one on Tuesday the 27th titled The Falling Sky. This track, along with its prior three (Meeting The Master, Sacred The Thread, and Farewell For Now) was teased at the band’s show in Sacramento, California back in late March, giving fans a crumb of the new song in advance.

The band has written pieces about love, war, climate change, and even political machines in the past on works such as ‘The Battle At Garden’s Gate’, ‘Anthem Of The Peaceful Army’, and ‘From The Fires’ but with this new collection of songs due to be apart of Starcatcher it seems that Greta Van Fleet is taking a more fictional approach. They’re introducing darker elements as storytellers and with The Falling Sky, it is far from an outlier.

Though the group of wunderkinds love to keep the true meaning behind their lyricism cryptic, band member Jake Kiszka actually described the background behind the song, saying “an unwavering warrior carrying on the endless, eternal, and impossible battle for salvation; these were the elements of symbolism associated with this particular track. In essence our fate is sealed, alike the stars that fall from the almighty heavens to the earth. This philosophy is carried through in the story of a bluesman at the crossroads of the universe”. This is a new first, as the young musicians have previously been silent in regard to the true meanings of their work.

A unique aspect that is very conflicting from the band’s previous studio works is the element of the harmonica. Live, Greta Van Fleet loves to bring out the harmonica for a solo or two via Jake (or frontman Josh Kiszka, on occasion) to liven up the crowd and the music itself though until now, none of their studio renditions have included the tiny instrument. Instead of a typical Jake Kiszka rip- roaring guitar solo towards the end half of the song, we are instead gifted with a harmonica solo; this gives The Falling Sky a more blues-founded and psychedelic nature than anything else thus far.

Aside from the new element of the harmonica, the band also includes backing vocalists on this track. Though the group has done this a few times in the past, mostly on ‘Anthem Of 'The Peaceful Army’ and older demos, this is a much fresher component in their work. At the ending chorus, frontman and vocalist Josh Kiskza still sings but he is also accompanied by Jake and bassist Sam Kiszka for harmonies. Up until now, it seems that only Jake and at times, drummer Danny Wagner, have provided backup so this is a big step for the band and Sam himself.

Starcatcher will be released on July 21st of this year, followed by its coinciding tour that begins just three days later in their residing city of Nashville, Tennessee. The band will be traveling with artists such as Surf Curse, Mt. Joy, Kaleo, and others until early December and many are hoping for a second leg to be announced.

To listen to The Falling Sky and other works, visit this link.

For tickets, visit THIS link.

And for band updates and more, visit this link!