The Gospel According to Water

The Gospel According to Water
Studio album by Joe Henry
Released	November 15, 2019 (2019-11-15)
Recorded	June 10-11 & 28, 2019
Studio	Groundlift Research & Development (Los Angeles, California) Sleeper Cave Records (Northampton, Massachusetts)
Length	53:47
Label	EarMusic
Producer	Joe Henry
Joe Henry chronology
Thrum (2017) The Gospel According to Water (2019) All the Eye Can See (2022)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Under the Radar	8.5/10 [3]

The Gospel According to Water is the fifteenth studio album by American musician and producer Joe Henry. It was released in November 15, 2019 under EarMusic Records. ^{[4] [5]}

Critical reception

The Gospel According to Water was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 85, based on 6 reviews ^[1]

In a year-end essay for Slate , Ann Powers cited The Gospel According to Water as one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Henry, who, "faced with a daunting cancer diagnosis ... wrote a whole new hymnal, in the form of a song journal written at 4 a.m." ^[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Joe Henry

The Gospel According to Water track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Famine Walk"	4:58
2.	"The Gospel According to Water"	6:10
3.	"Mule"	3:43
4.	"Orson Welles"	5:43
5.	"Green of the Afternoon"	4:17
6.	"In Time for Tomorrow"	3:41
7.	"The Fact of Love"	4:30
8.	"Book of Common Prayer"	3:30
9.	"Bloom"	3:38
10.	"Gates of Prayer Cemetery, No. 2"	2:50
11.	"Salt and Sugar"	4:47
12.	"General Tzu Names the Planets for His Children"	3:12
13.	"Choir Boy"	2:48

Personnel

• Joe Henry – vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars
• Patrick Warren – acoustic piano, additional keyboards
• John Smith – acoustic guitars
• David Piltch – electric bass (8)
• Levon Henry – clarinet, tenor saxophone
• JT Nero – vocals (6, 7)
• Allison Russell – vocals (6, 7)

Production

• Joe Henry – producer
• S. Husky Hoskulds – recording, mixing, mastering
• Andy Cass – additional recording
• Ryan Tanner – design, photography

Charts

Chart performance for
The Gospel According to Water

Chart	Peak position
UK Americana Albums (OCC) [7]	17
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [8]	17
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [9]	11
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [10]	39

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
Worldwide	November 15, 2019	EarMusic	CD, Digital Download [11]
Worldwide	December 6, 2019	EarMusic	Vinyl [12]

References

1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
2. Deming, Mark. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
3. Moody, Mark (December 6, 2019). "Under the Radar Review". Under the Radar . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
4. Pareles, Jon (November 18, 2019). "Joe Henry and the Art of Disappearing Into a Song". The New York Times . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
5. Ouellette, Dan (November 6, 2019). "Joe Henry Shares a Romantic 'Gospel' In the Wake of Cancer Diagnosis". Billboard . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
6. Powers, Ann (December 17, 2019). "The album is evolving". Slate . Retrieved September 15, 2020.
7. "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
8. "Joe Henry Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
9. "Joe Henry Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
10. "Joe Henry Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
11. "The Gospel According to Water - Joe Henry on Amazon Music". Amazon Music . Retrieved May 3, 2020.
12. "Joe Henry - The Gospel According to Water". Amazon Music . Retrieved May 3, 2020.