Nathaniel Rateliff on 'The Future' and how it all came together : World Cafe Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats perform songs from their first full-length studio album in four years.

Nathaniel Rateliff on 'The Future' and how it all came together

Nathaniel Rateliff on World Cafe

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Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist
Nathaniel Rateliff &amp; The Nightsweats.
Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist

Set list

  • "Survivor"
  • "Love Me Till I'm Gone"
  • "Face Down in the Moment"
  • "So Put Out"
  • "What If I"

In Feb. 2020, just weeks before the pandemic hit, Nathaniel Rateliff visited the World Cafe to talk about his very personal solo album, And It's Still Alright. He was just heading out to tour the album when – well, you know the rest. The tour was cancelled. The band went home.

Everything seemed precarious then — the future of live music, the world itself. And though it wasn't an easy pill to swallow, writing a new album when he hadn't gotten to tour the last one, Rateliff called up his bandmates and started writing.

The result is The Future - you'll hear them perform songs from it in this session, as well as a conversation with Rateliff about how it all came together, and how he has been keeping it together through all of the uncertainty of the last year-and-a-half. Listen in below.

Episode Playlist