In the organizer's words:

This summer, Billy Raffoul embarked on a project to present two sides of his personality in two full-length albums. The first album, Billy Raffoul, is an intimate acoustic story of connections after a trip to South Africa, combined with the power of music that transcends borders, released on July 18. Today he releases his second album, When I Cross The River, a rocking collection of songs recorded for loud playback in the studio. Ultimately, these two albums show who Billy Raffoul is as an artist today. About the album's title track, Billy says, "When I Cross the River: This song is in many ways a homecoming. When I was 19, I left my hometown of Leamington, Ontario and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. I went there with the intention of recording a rock 'n' roll album, but the music I released over the next decade-plus consisted mostly of acoustic recordings. It took me over a decade, but I finally recorded this rock album. The river I refer to in the song is the Detroit River; I cross it every time I go back to Leamington. Interesting fact: I co-wrote this song with Linda Perry." Nothing travels as fast as music. No spaceship, airplane or car will ever be able to match the speed at which a song seems to leap from one place to the next. It could jump from the loudspeakers of a pub in Germany to an open-air event in Africa and back to a party in Ontario, Canada. Billy Raffoul tells universal stories accompanied by unforgettable melodies, striking an intimate chord by tapping into feelings and experiences we all share, no matter where we call home. This identifiability has consistently resonated with listeners, earning the award-winning Ontario singer, songwriter and producer hundreds of millions of streams and sold-out shows around the globe. When I Cross River opens with the heartwarming "Get Along," a love song Billy wrote about meeting his girlfriend and how the age-old debate between the Rolling Stones and the Beatles could lead to a meeting with her father. Then there's "Canadian", a rock song about the experiences of many immigrants who left their homes and everything they knew to make a life for themselves in a new country. The track is also dedicated to the place he calls home, his heritage and his grandparents. Billy wrote this track almost ten years ago after being inspired by the Kurdi family who were seeking passage from Syria to Western Canada via Turkey and Greece in 2015. "Young" is the anthem of When I Cross the River, and Billy reminisces and emphasizes the milestones of his hometown, his first relationship, the friends he's lost touch with, and the ones he hasn't. "Young" was also co-written with Billy's brother Peter Raffoul and Steve Molella. The album ends with "Where the Skies are Blue", which Billy wrote while on tour in the US in November 2021, trying to figure out how to navigate the world post-COVID. Billy says, "We had a flat tire on I-70 eastbound through Kansas, west of Salina. I wrote the song on the back road after I changed the tire. It's a song about homesickness and longing for my band. It has the same concept as WICTR and seemed like a fitting conclusion." To celebrate the release of his double album and new single, Billy is going on tour again. The new tour of the USA and Canada will begin in fall 2025, followed by tours in Europe and South Africa in spring 2026.