Stephani Ezatoff’s “Run On” revives a traditional African American Gospel hymn with a cinematic modernity while paying homage to Elvis Presley’s celebrated 1967 rendition.
Recorded at Nashville’s Sound Shop Studio on Music Row, remarkably close to the former RCA Studio B where Elvis recorded his version, the track carries an uncanny sense of musical history. It also became one of Sound Shop’s final recordings before the legendary studio closed and was demolished days later.
From the outset, “Run On” refuses to sound solemn in the conventional sense. A playful, catchy guitar figure struts beneath pounding drums and splashing cymbals, giving the song an almost mischievous bounce. Ezatoff’s thick, deep, velvety voice slips effortlessly into the groove, delivering the warnings with a sly storytelling quality that makes lines about liars, gamblers and backbiters feel strangely entertaining.
Then the arrangement starts gathering steam. Ezatoff performs every vocal part herself, and the layering gradually transforms her solitary voice into something almost ghostly and congregational. As the repeated warnings about divine judgment intensify, the harmonies swell around her, turning the track into an increasingly formidable wall of sound. The effect is indeed cinematic, less like simply hearing a hymn and more like watching its moral reckoning unfold.
And that is where this rendition really hits home. “Run On” balances the playful with the ominous, reminding listeners that what happens in the dark eventually comes to light. By the finale, the accumulating vocals and instrumentation feel like a runaway train, carrying an old spiritual warning into the present with remarkable force.
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Review by: Naomi Joan