Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. On Peace Like A River, the heady and hard-hitting new album from Gov’t Mule, that intrinsic, age-old paradox appears to solve itself. Over 12 songs and 70 minutes of music, the Southern rock mainstays changes shape, raises the temperature, and transfers kinetic, heart-pulsing energy from one track to the next in often unexpected and highly rewarding ways. Mule approached this album, with the adventurousness and vitality of band that recognizes freedom is never free and a reckoning isn’t far away.Produced by Warren Haynes and John Paterno and recorded at the Power Station New England, Peace Like A River follows the band’s acclaimed 2021 LP, Heavy Load Blues. It’s remarkable synthesis of songs and musicality (all written by Haynes except for two, full-band penned tracks) that toggles between thundering heavy rock, electric blues, soul, funk, spoken word, English chamber-folk, and psychedelia; enhanced by a fascinating assortment of contributing artists including, Billy Gibbons, Ivan Neville, Ruthie Foster, Billy Bob Thornton, and Celisse.