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Denison Witmer has long been an indie singer / songwriter favorite of mine with his yearning, honest lyrics and soft, peaceful voice. After four full-length studio albums (including a covers album), Witmer's latest release comes as The River Bends. The difference now is that he has a full band behind him.

I'm glad to be able to say that the old Denison Witmer is still here in terms of the quality of the lyrics and vocals. With a backing band, the songs have a little more flavor and force. The influence of '70s artists such as Jackson Browne is easy to find here. The lyrics revolve largely around relationships and life experiences, topics on which Denison Witmer can pen better songs than pretty much anyone I know of.

The album And Flows Into the Sea includes (dare I say it) Denison Witmer's first rocker in the form of "Lawyers and White Paper," a song which I'm sure would be great live. Fans may recognize the song "Are You Lonely" from Witmer's Live release, but the full band treatment and improved sound quality make the song much more enjoyable. "You Could Be Anything" is one of the best musical moments on the album as it builds to a strong conclusion for the album as a whole.

I'm still a sucker for the soft, longing stuff that Witmer does and this is where songs like "I Love You April" hit with such a sold punch. The band kicking in at the end of the song makes this one of the songs most worth savoring from the album. On "Better or Worse," Witmer sings along with the piano, "We wrote our story on a piece of paper and we hung it high up in a tree / And watched it float there like a wild flower / Watched it blow away so peacefully / And I've felt better, I've felt worse / Sometimes I go down to the river Shannon / Where the sailboats pull up against the shore / Where they turn to leave I look for you and me / But I'm sad that I can't see it anymore / I feel better, I feel worse / Count your blessings love, they tried to tell us / If we'd give everything, we won't get jealous."

The River Bends project sees Denison Witmer progressing along nicely in his career. It's no Safe Away (his debut, which would be near impossible to match), but it's an excellent album in its own right that should welcome new fans into the fold.

Trae Cadenhead  6/22/2004