Keith’s DJ pick this week is “I’m On Your Side” by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats! “I’m On Your Side” is the eighth track from the band’s latest album, Future. While Future is the third album from this group, it is the first to capture the octet’s true depth and breadth. To explain how this album is a little bit more special than those before it, we go back to where a lot of new music comes from: March 2020. At the beginning of this infamous year, Rateliff decides to release a solo album entitled And It’s Still Alright. Unfortunately, March 2020 does to Rateliff what it does to every other musician: Introduce a change of plans. With the tour for this album scratched, Rateliff begins writing again.
The process of writing this album is one of confusion and self-discovery. Specifically, Rateliff struggles largely with the difference between himself as an artist and himself as a member of this band. As he writes, he tries to find differentiating features between a Nathaniel Rateliff song and a Night Sweats song. He reflects on this moment, saying “I look at it overall as a big question. When I was writing the record we were in the middle of a pandemic and our future looked pretty bleak. I just continue to try to write from a place of hope. Then my own neurosis, and maybe being a Libra gets in the way, and I can’t make up my mind. There is this constant back and forth battle in me personally and I am sure that comes out in my writing.”
With the help of producer Bradley Cook, Rateliff realizes that there doesn’t have to be a separation between himself and his band. He can be authentic as a part of both, and there doesn’t have to be a clear difference between the two. Consequently, Future is born. “I’m On Your Side” is a heroic vow of empathy for a world of reductive reactions and vocal belligerence; as insistent as the organ that roars beneath it, the song unfurls as a call to necessary solidarity. You can listen to “I’m On Your Side” by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats here:
Tune into 100.1 FM or lightning100.com to hear “I’m On Your Side” by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats as Keith’s DJ Pick of the Week. Be sure to let us know your thoughts! Tweet at us with #L100DJPicks and share your take on the track.
