One-time Vancouver folk duo expand their sound into a full-fledged rock band on the new 11-track album
It’s easy to describe The Gravel-Aires’ sound as old school—the full roots rock spectrum with a touch of power pop flair. But with songs derived from the extensive experience shared by the creative team of Mark Branscombe and Michael Mahoney, The Gravel-Aires is a band that boldly defies any assumptions that go along with that description.
That’s clearly evident on the Vancouver-based group’s new album, Westerly, a dynamic 11-song collection that officially arrives today on all digital platforms ahead of their album release show Sat. Feb. 24 at Vancouver’s Princeton Pub (see graphic below). It’s The Gravel-Aires’ third full-length since 2020, and proof of their sonic evolution from a stripped-down duo into a full-fledged, five-piece rock and roll band. Guiding that process once again in the studio was Westerly’s co-producer Jesse Waldman—no slouch of a roots music artist in his own right—whose sense of space and texture brings the songs to life.
All of the classic elements are present on the album’s first focus track, “If The Devil Don’t Want Her,” with its Stones-indebted groove, slithery slide guitar and lyrics like, “She’ll stick on you like a bad tattoo.” Other standout tracks on Westerly include the gently folk-rocking “Babylon Blue,” the cinematic “Afterlife,” and the swampy “Crows.”