ALBUM REVIEW: The War and Treaty’s ‘Plus One’ Explores the Power and Promise of Love

On their fourth album, Plus One, The War and Treaty transport us into the sonic stratosphere from the album’s opening track, “Love Like Whiskey,” and never let us down as they carry us through the yearnings, the dashed expectations, and the promises of love. In their exuberant vocals, the award-winning husband-and-wife duo of Michael and Tonya Trotter create colorful musical landscapes that ride high on waves of straight-ahead rock and float smoothly on gentle ripples of soul and country.

Blaring horns and Muscle Shoals rhythms elevate “Love Like Whiskey,” the heart-grabbing anthem co-written by the Trotters and Miranda Lambert. The duo counsels that, like whiskey, love is sometimes going to burn, but walking through that fire burnishes a relationship and makes it stronger. The shuffling and loping country soul “Can I Get an Amen?” powerfully echoes with the joy that comes from putting another first in a relationship. “Called You by Your Name” opens languidly but speeds up to a breakneck tempo, propelled by New Orleans-style horns, into a carnivalesque celebration of love and life.

On the jazz lounge number, “Teardrops in the Rain,” the duo reflects on the ache of vulnerability that accompanies disappointed love, while aching pedal steel and twinkling piano notes create shimmering layers of swirling emotion on “Lead Me Home.” “Carried Away” is blend of honky-tonk and soul, with the duo burning down the juke joint with the steamy vocals. Billy Strings’ darting guitar riffs drive the country rocker “Drink from Me,” while the atmospheric “Love Light” celebrates the ways that love illumines and guides our lives.

Plus One is the best yet from The War and Treaty. The Trotters elevate their sound with each album, and every song on this their exhilarating new overflows with joyful energy. It’s already one of the year’s best albums.

The War and Treaty’s Plus One is out Feb. 14.