Old stories tend to stick around because the problems at their centre never really disappear. JP Oldfield taps into that tradition on Saltwater Gospel, using a tale of the sea, death and faith as the basis for his latest EP.
The starting point is the Ferryman, who refuses to surrender his dead wife and becomes caught between life and death. From there, Oldfield brings in an angel, a flood and a series of religious images, building a story that gradually moves beyond one man’s loss.
What works particularly well is that Oldfield does not simply retell familiar folklore. He takes those ingredients and gives them his own characters and conflicts. The result feels like a story built from old ideas rather than a recreation of something that has already been told.
The religious material also gives the songs plenty to question. Churches, scripture and ideas about justice appear throughout the EP, but they are often connected to punishment and power rather than offering easy answers.
Musically, Oldfield keeps the songs tied to his roots influences, using resonator guitar and a deep vocal to give the material a distinctly dark character. The arrangements leave the writing at the centre, which suits a release where the story carries so much of the weight.
Saltwater Gospel is an interesting example of how traditional storytelling can still provide useful material for contemporary songwriting. Oldfield takes familiar symbols, changes their context and builds a new tale around them.
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