NATHANIEL RATELIFF’S CULT FAVORITE DESIRE AND DISSOLVING MEN

(2007) REMASTERED AND WIDELY AVAILABLE, INCLUDING ON VINYL, FOR THE FIRST TIME

album artwork

Story: Ralph Greco, Jr.

Marking the 16th anniversary of its original release, Nathaniel Rateliff is set for the official re-release of his 2007 album Desire and Dissolving Men.

Despite limited distribution in its day, the record gained a cult following and can now be found on all DSPs. The first ever pressing on vinyl is also available at Rateliff’s online store HERE and on his current sold out “And It’s Still Alright Tour,” a nine-month reboot of the 2020 run with his folk band which was cut short due to COVID.

The album was recorded largely on an eight-track in Rateliff’s living room while the prolific multi-instrumentalist was grappling with longing, languor and lamentation. Featuring his most personal and somber songwriting to date, Desire and Dissolving Men “is the first album I’ve ever made on which all of the songs I recorded are exactly what I wanted them to be,” notes Rateliff. “I like that there are little things in every song. Maybe it was the middle of the night and there are crickets in the background, or it was early morning and there are birds in the song.”

Photo credit: Erin Preston, circa 2007

Growing up in Herman, Missouri, Nathaniel Rateliff started his music career playing in his family’s band at church and music became an obsession for him and his friends. In seventh grade Rateliff’s father was killed in a car crash, which forced him to drop out of school to help provide for his family. One of Rateliff’s full-time jobs was working as a janitor at what would have been his high school. At 19, Rateliff moved to Denver where he worked night shifts at a bottle factory and a trucking company while testing out songs at open-mic nights. After playing rock music in various incarnations, Rateliff began gravitating towards a folkier sound, first captured on 2007’s Desire and Dissolving Men. In 2010 he released In Memory of Loss, a solo album on Rounder Records. In 2013 Rateliff released Falling Faster Than You Can Run on modyvi records, followed by the Closer ep, and 2020’s gorgeous And it’s Still Allright on Stax Records. Since 2015, Rateliff has also led the high-octane, horn-flanked band the Night Sweats, releasing their third album The Future in 2021. See the insightful CBS Sunday segment on Rateliff HERE.

Ralph Greco, Jr. is the devilishly clever nom de plume of professional writer/musician Ralph Greco who lives in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. He is also a podcast co-host, but as everyone has a podcast these days, this fact is of very little consequence.Ralph can be reached by writing ralphiedawriter@gmail.com