The New Basement Tapes – Lost on the River Review

With a blessing from the man himself, those inspired by the work of Bob Dylan are given the green light to tear into and adapt his words and rifle through The Basement Tapes mentality. How apt a name for this band, then. The New Basement tapes comprise Mumford and Son members, Elvis Costello and a few sprinklings of Rhiannon Giddens for good measure. What an eclectic, somewhat evil mix. The stomp and holler chills pair with the post-punk thrills and come to a head with Lost on the River. It is a fascinating project where each member tries to pull in a different direction, ultimately leading to a compilation album which feels more like the re-recording of a Glen Campbell album after his death than anything tangible or interesting. This is a posthumous album for an artist still living. The air of death surrounds it.  

Wade through this with your head held high and soon you find it hard not to sink into the welcome tones. Modernised presentations of Dylan and his earliest words, from a prolific period, is to be handled with care. The New Basement Tapes do that. Opening track Down on the Bottom is an early slice of this convincing nature. There is a finite material from Dylan, and we claw at what we can. Lost on the River makes good on these selected words. Costello leads Married to My Hack, his deeper tone a nice fit. Even Mumford and Sons alumni Marcus Mumford gives it a solid go. It may serve as a shock now the stomp and holler craze has finally been crushed under country boots, but Kansas City is a fine use of his vocal skills.  

Taking their turn and making the most of it means each artist is given fair scope. Twenty tracks worth listening to across a deluxe release, but it does not quite capture the heart or time of the lyrics. It would be tricky to do without the involvement of Dylan. Yet he is in there. These are his words. Lost on the River is a fine album which can be used as evidence of the wordplay of Dylan being just a piece in the immaculate puzzle. Liberty Street gets to the crux of this with its sheepish country style and gospel music-like backing vocals. Yes, it sounds like a cover band at times – Nothing To It particularly – but that is the joy of Lost on the River. There is a groove to it which, backed by some heavy-hitting names, feels more like a cosy pub band with a desire for Dylan tapes. 

Do not ask the obvious question. Yes, these would be better with Dylan and The Band. But we take what we can get and what we get is a competent collection of unused Basement Tapes letters and words. They work now and in this new tone, they take good form. Hidee Hidee Ho #11 takes good form with its charmingly light piano and from there The New Basement Tapes welcomes a warm wave of success. There is a charm to their efforts in adapting the leftover songs and scribbles of Dylan. Someone must. Pockets of great and comfortable joy to be had with the likes of Card Shark and a few other selections later, Lost on the River is a gentle, flourishing tribute to an incredible moment in music history. These are the songs which never made it, and they should have.