Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee

In comparison to other installments in the series, River Run Thee was performed by solely Roberts.[7][8] Even though the album was performed solo, the album was still called the "most vast" of the series by Spectrum Culture, and the "most layered and multifaceted" of the series by Tiny Mix Tapes.[9][3] The album was recorded in Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Canada, with recording and mixing assistance from Radwan Moumneh.[4][10] River Run Thee mostly uses voice and saxophone,[4] and contains elements of spoken word, field recordings, drones, and effects pedals.[5][6][7][2] According to Joseph Burnett of The Quietus, "without a band to work with, Roberts turns to electronics to bolster her singing and saxophone".[6]

River Run Thee includes samples from a 1965 Malcolm X lecture, entitled "Confronting White Oppression"; readings from works by Captain G.L. Sullivan; and American folk and traditional songs, like "The Star Spangled Banner".[4][11] Roberts also used a recording of a homeless woman from 2014.[11]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork	8.2 / 10[12]
TheNeedleDrop	6 / 10[1]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[3]
Spectrum Culture	[9]
AllMusic	[11]
Exclaim!	6 / 10[2]

On a list of the "20 Best Avant Albums of 2015" by Christopher Weingarten of Rolling Stone, River Run Thee ranked at #15.[7] They described the album as "a more austere outing composed on loop and effects pedals, Roberts culls dazzling swarms for voice, drone and her own impassioned alto sax solos".[7]

Joseph Burnett of The Quietus called the album "harrowing", and praised Roberts for her vivid imagery and mournful singing.[6] They also called it a "broiling, uncompromising work that rips down genre barriers altogether".[6] Grayson Currin of Pitchfork praised the album, calling it a "seamless solo improvisation".[12] They also wrote, "it’s now clear that Roberts isn’t just a storyteller, musician, ethnographer, historian, bandleader, arranger, improviser, or activist. She plays all of those roles".[12] Nick Storring of Musicworks called the album brilliant, and found its listening experience to be "utterly overwhelming".[4]

Anthony Fantano of TheNeedleDrop called the album a "stand-out record that boldly experimented," but criticized the album for its "cold reading of historic documents", since this lacked the emotion of the previous installments in the series.[1] In Jazz Scott of Tiny Mix Tapes' review, they called the album "infinite and indispensable in its cultural worth and true-ly [sic] timeless and comprehensive in its scope."[3] Nilan Perera of Exclaim! enjoyed the denseness of the instrumental layers, but found that the unchanging soundscape made it harder to hear the words, "which seem to reveal little".[2]

• Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee on Bandcamp