MORE HARMONICA.
Riley Green released his Way Out Here EP in April, and I have been loving every single song. From the steamy tune “Worst Way” to Riley’s incredibly heartbreaking, yet beautiful solo-penned “Jesus Saves,” it’s easily one of my projects he’s ever put out.
From the songwriting, to the production and variety of music in just seven songs, it packs a punch and I’ve had it on repeat for the last several weeks. I think it actually might be his best, most impressive work to date.
And another song from it that I find myself going back to over and over is his refreshed rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City,” which Riley previously covered on his 2016 County Line EP. It was one of the first songs I heard from Riley that I’ve loved for a long time now, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it appear again on the Way Out Here tracklist so many years later.
Of course, the original version was written and recorded by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, and it first appeared on his 1982 solo album Nebraska.
But this new rendition Riley shared is much more stripped-back and sparse than the first one he put out, and features some gorgeous, very country production, with the harmonica on full display, similar to Bruce’s original. It certainly has a different feel to it, but I’m really glad Riley decided to redo it because I think this version is definitely superior to his first go.
And like I said, I’m biased because I’ve loved Riley’s first cover of “Atlantic City” for a long time, but this new version is so damn good and I highly recommend checking it out while you’re here:
“Atlantic City”
Riley’s first, 2016 version for reference:
“Atlantic City”
