Seabuckthorn - Never the Same River (2026) [hi-Res]

Spanning nearly two decades, Andy Cartwright's exquisite output under the name Seabuckthorn requires little fanfare. Having relocated from the UK to the French Alps in the late twenty-tens, a plethora of battle-scarred guitars remain as Cartwright's main toolset. Yet, Seabuckthorn has subtly evolved from the primitive, Fahey-esque style of his earlier works (In Nightfall), through more experimental folk iterations heavily reliant on bowed strings and minimal percussive elements (They Haunted Most Thickly, Turns, A House With Too Much Fire). Reaching its most refined and sublime stage came as Cartwright began forging hymns of wood and steel that felt more at home on a mountain top than concealed inside some dank cathedral, shifting towards a deep droning, minimalistic approach (Other Other, Inlandscape).

For those who have followed Cartwright's career closely, 2024's This Warm, This Late (Quiet Details) felt like a culmination of all that had come before, honing and perfecting his alchemic meanderings. Masterfully operating in multiple universes at once, Seabuckthorn provided us with the Makers lens, allowing for a brief godlike fathoming of all the complexities before us. The compositions were grounded and tangible yet simultaneously felt impossible to grasp, fleeting, like vapor. In 2025, 'A Path Within A Path' (Laaps) drove percussion to the forefront, the strength of its concrete rhythms and bold strings harken back to the early records of his career.

Lost Tribe Sound recalled a past conversation had with Cartwright, asking him to one day return with an album full of rhythm-laden work. Nearly ten years on from the release of 'Turns' on LTS, he has gifted us with 'Never the Same River.' The title was born from Cartwright's weekly ritual of walking the same mountain route and each time noticing small differences in the landscape. This led him to the famous quote, "No one ever steps in the same river twice, for they are not the same person, and it is not the same river."

'Never the Same River' is Seabuckthorn's most rhythmic effort to date. Many of the songs began by assembling percussive objects—hand percussion, kitchen pans and capturing simple DIY beats. Cartwright then reshaped the recordings using software, where chance helped to deepen the material. Rhythms were stretched, fragmented and reassembled, allowing unexpected textures and patterns to surface. In many ways 'Never the Same River' is the spiritual successor to 'A Path Within a Path.' Interestly, NTSR also shares a kinship with William Ryan Fritch's 2021 album 'Built Upon a Fearful Void' who makes an appearance on song three, "Things We Cannot See."

To say that 'Never the Same River' is simply a rhythmic affair fails it, as Cartwright's instrumental decision making is better than ever throughout the album's fourteen songs. Eastern and western musical modalities meld in unexpected ways, bending to the Seabuckthorn way—high desert Americana collides with shapeshifting ambient ritual and rugged primitive. The album rattles and moans its way through an onslaught of curious initiations, creating sanctuary for the weary, bathed in chasmic detail and drawing breath from the cool mountain air.

At LTS, it feels important to connect the dots. Referencing others who have come before with adjacent musical concepts is always a worthwhile endeavor. Those who come to mind are Mystic AM, Oliver Doerell (Dictaphone) / Jawad Salkhordeh, early Geir Sundstøl, and oddly even Pierre Bastien's mechanized rhythmic delivery comes to mind.