BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN : ROLLING GOLDEN HOLY

1. Exile
2. Comrade Sweetheart
3. California
4. Summer Dream
5. Gone By Fall
6. Sweetbread
7. Someone To Weep For Me
8. Fleur De Lis
9. Fair Annie
10. Cold Rain and Snow

Label : 37d03d

Release Date : October 7, 2022

Length : 35:43

Review (Pitchfork) : On Bonny Light Horseman’s 2020 self-titled debut, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (of Fruit Bats), and producer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman moved their modern weft across the warp of folk traditions past. Borrowing pieces from old-time songs, their interplay between convention and innovation could have ended as a one-off project, especially after the collaboration earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album. But the kismet of their creative commune seemed too good not to keep exploring, so they set about writing original songs. Their second album, Rolling Golden Holy, imagines what contemporary stories might look like when framed in the Anglo-American folk tradition. Entwining themes from broadsides and British ballads, musical styles from Appalachia, and touches of modern production, they deliver new tales, new colors, and new patterns. In 1957, folk scholar George Malcolm Laws classified broadside ballads into topics like “Lovers’ Disguises and Tricks,” “Faithful Lovers,” and “Unfaithful Lovers.” While these categories apply to plenty of genres, Bonny Light Horseman delight in building fresh narratives from the fabled history of folk music. The duet “Comrade Sweetheart” evokes an early 20th century setting, when the blue-collar struggle for justice made its way into songs from Woody Guthrie and later Pete Seeger. Johnson and Mitchell pledge their love and fidelity, promising to care for one another in their fight for larger causes. The songs on Rolling Golden Holy trace a variety of love stories, with Mitchell and Johnson trading off leads like they do perspectives. “Gone by Fall” reflects on love that will end when the seasons change. The song’s brightly plucked guitar contrasts the sorrow ruminating at its center. Johnson takes lead vocals, while Mitchell’s soft touches add flourishes of nostalgic sweetness, as though the present were already a potent memory. “Exile” declares grandiose passions in an effort to win back a lover. Johnson’s and Mitchell’s voices plait in and around one another. “You know I’d fly right into the eye of the hurricane for you,” they sing against a fluttering banjo, while Mike Lewis’ bass and JT Bates’ drums juxtapose that soaring interplay with a grounded heft. Johnson’s rollicking banjo and Lewis’ saxophone begin the joyous “Sweetbread,” in which Mitchell defiantly shuns a wild-hearted lover who won’t commit. Instead, she imagines a satisfying independence. “Sweetbread when I’m hungry/Red liquor when I’m dry/I take a lover when I’m lonely/Blue sky, lord, when I die,” she sings euphorically with Johnson backing her. In an updated version of Anthology of American Folk, Harry Smith might well apply one of his famous descriptions: “SELF-SUFFICIENT WOMAN LETS GO OF NE’ER DO WELL; VOWS TO EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY.” Not all of the compositions work so seamlessly. “Fleur de Lis” calls to mind a lineage of ballads that employ nature as a metaphor, like “The Fair Flower of Northumberland” or “The Rose of England.” A beating synth and electric guitar scaffold the nestled dulcimer, but the song ends up curling around itself, leaning too heavily on folk’s repetitive patterns for an ultimately staid effect. It detracts from the album’s compelling momentum, feeling closer to a loose stitch. Mitchell, Johnson, and Kaufman may have started with a fascination for certain traditions, but it’s their collaboration—and the potent exchange of those talents—that makes Rolling Golden Holy gleam.

Review (KLOF Magazine) : It’s rare to find three confederates more musically matched than the members of Bonny Light Horseman, and their new album, Rolling Golden Holy, is a collaboration unlike any you’re likely to hear this year. There are even fewer rules than they had on their first disc. In the process, they’ve made something even more memorable because they take even more chances. Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson and Josh Kaufman all sing, creating blends that reflect three individuals who have merged their identities in search of a common dream – to create the best music possible. Coming off an album that was created largely to highlight music from completely different generations, Rolling Golden Holy features songs specifically written for this project. All three have had input in creating something special and unique, a reflection of where they are in the here and now. Recorded in Jerry Marotta’s Dreamland, housed in a former church complete with stained glass windows, it provided a perfect location for the three. At times they took off their headphones and played together, getting closer and playing softer, trusting in the magic that was taking place as they sang. Tunes like “Exile” feel like living things floating through the air. Guitar and banjo provide a core sound while in no way sounding totally familiar. There is something in the way they play that seems to breathe new life into their instruments. The melody is simple but what Williams does with it takes it to places one would never expect. By the song’s end, we hear the final notes sung solo, and the effect is mesmerizing. Guitars create sounds that are organic, electric and fire at angles that aren’t exactly off kilter but don’t necessarily hew to what you might expect. Not quite wobbly, the solos on “California” reflect a reality filled with new possibilities. Within the context of a song written about leaving the ‘land of plenty,’ it offers up thoughts of what is to come. The reflections of “Summer Dream” illustrate how moments and angles change over time. What is now simply isn’t the same as what was. Amidst the guitars, Mitchell sings, “I saw your face last night/ In a heat light storm/ Come to me so sad/ Sand on your castle/ Wanted to touch your hand/ ‘Stead I watched you drift away again.” The dream and the reality don’t meet up if they were intended to. Playing out on an entirely different level, “Gone by Fall” reflects the reality of knowing the place he is in is only momentary. As sung by Johnson, there’s a sense of wistfulness in the refrain, “If I last the summer/ I’ll be gone by fall.” The temporary and transitory nature of those moments creates their own reality. Even as “Sweetbread” sounds traditional in its lyrical qualities, the music takes on tones much more modern, in part thanks to the sax of Mike Lewis, who takes the instrument into areas farther afield than you might expect, which is all part of the equation with Bonny Light Horseman. They go places not quite so familiar in search of magic. That they find it is only part of what makes them special. Eric D. Johnson, Josh Kaufman and Anais Mitchell form a musical family that goes down pathways in search of the spirit that brings music to life. On Rolling Golden Holy, their notes change the way we look at life and music.

Review (Americana Highways) : On an album described as “a trust fall into glory,” Bonny Light Horseman (Anaïs Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson) find deeper connection and renewed comradery as they create a batch of songs that fit neatly in the folk tradition of yesteryear or tomorrow. Rolling Golden Holy expands on the success of Bonny Light Horseman’s debut by forgoing reinterpretation of traditional in favor of creating new vistas for a timeless artform. Although successful in their own right, each member of Bonny Light Horseman found renewed energy in the creative space afforded by the threesome’s support for one another – a kinship deeper than their time together would expect led to “each member encouraging the others to take an idea and run with it a little further, to push past comfort zones.” This push past comfort zones allowed Bonny Light Horseman to achieve dynamic arrangements to well-crafted songs that are at once timeless and timely in their embrace of folk traditions and sonic adventurism. “California” coasts to the coast on an airy embrace with a refrain reminiscent of Dixieland Delight but with a laid-back west coast ocean breeze roll – a windows down twist on Wood Guthrie’s Do-Re-Me – as Johnson sings, “Goodbye to California; Seems like we hardly knew ya; Seems as good a time as any; To be leaving the land of plenty.” Leaving the promised land behind never sounded so sweet as when Johnson croons, “With a broken heart; And a crow in the yard; My love and I are leaving.” Banjo and a clip-clomp drum drive the playful “Sweetbread” while Mitchell sings, “Sweetbread when I’m hungry; Red liquor when I’m dry; I take a lover when I’m lonely; Blue sky, lord, when I die.” Inspired by the traditional tunes “Rye Whiskey” and “Jack Of Diamonds”, “Sweetbread” brings the traditional into the present day by embracing a jammy exit and introducing an emotive saxophone for the final crescendo. “Cold Rain and Snow” closes this collection with the best showcase of these three voices in communion. Although in the background vocally for much of the album, Kaufman’s vocals stitch together the soaring performances delivered by Mitchell and Johnson while also providing the Wurlitzer and electric guitar parts that give this track a distinctively different feel to the rest of the collection. “Cold Rain and Snow” embraces established folk traditions while simultaneously pushing to the present day and beyond with a scene as simple as a mother and child waiting for the school bus. On Rolling Golden Holy Bonnie Light Horseman’s Anaïs Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson prove to be more a band than a one-off project. With greater connection they are able to take greater risks in songwriting and arrangement. As noted in the album press release, “They bought a dulcimer, their first full-band purchase, and learned to play it as a trio; every member has at least one dulcimer part on Rolling Golden Holy, a testament to the new safety net they’ve built together, for one another.” This new safety net allowed for a collection of originals that connects where Bonny Light Horseman is going with the reinterpreted traditional songs from which they have come. Rolling Golden Holy was recorded at both Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond studio and the band’s own Dreamland with engineer Bella Blasko and musical assistance from JT Bates (drums, percussion) and Mike Lewis (bass, tenor saxophone); mixed and mastered by D James Goodwin.

Review (Nieuwe Plaat) : Bonny Light Horseman verraste in 2020 alles en iedereen, maar vooral zichzelf, met het succes van het titelloze debuutalbum. De moderne interpretaties van tien soms eeuwenoude folkliedjes leverden miljoenen streams en zelfs een Grammy-nominatie op. Het was slechts een voorbode. Met het hartverwarmende nieuwe album Rolling Golden Holy gaat het pas echt beginnen voor Bonny Light Horseman. In tegenstelling tot het debuut bevat Rolling Golden Holy tien volledig zelf gecomponeerde liedjes. Dat hoor je er overigens niet aan af: als het trio had beweerd dat sommige nummers eeuwenoude folkcomposities zijn, had je het zo geloofd. Anaïs Mitchell, Josh Kaufman en Eric D. Johnson (alias Fruit Bats) weten namelijk precies waar goede folkmuziek uit zou moeten bestaan en brengen het ook nog vol overtuiging. Het drietal blinkt op Rolling Golden Holy uit in harmonieuze samenzang. Als een moderne variant op Crosby, Stills & Nash halen Kaufman, Mitchell en Johnson het beste in elkaar naar boven. Het zijn die laatste twee die afwisselend op de voorgrond mogen treden. Mitchell met haar zachte, zalvende stem, wier manier van zingen bij tijd en wijle aan Julia Stone doet denken. De zangeres krijgt momenten om zich te onderscheiden in tracks als Fleur de Lis en Sweetbread, al is in die laatste track tenorsaxofonist Mike Lewis een stevige concurrent als het gaat om de aandacht opeisen. Johnson beschikt over een scherpere, maar eveneens breekbare stem. Zijn sterkste momenten liggen zonder twijfel in Someone To Weep For Me en leadsingle California, een schitterend nummer met een tekst die luistert als een melancholische afscheidsbrief. Toch zijn het de momenten waarop de stemmen samenkomen waarmee Bonny Light Horseman pas echt de poorten naar de muziekhemel opent. Opener Exile is adembenemend mooi, vooral door de manier waarop sleutelzin ‘I don’t wanna live in exile’ per keer met meer wanhoop wordt gezongen. Muzikaal gezien begeeft Exile zich in de beste tradities van de folkmuziek, met de banjo van Johnson als fundament. Summer Dream is zo mogelijk nóg mooier. De track bouwt minder op naar een climax, maar zweeft heerlijk voort, met ingetogen instrumenten, een mondharmonica die af en toe opduikt en weer die prachtige harmonieën. Precies zoals een zomerse droom zou moeten klinken. Comerade Sweetheart begint aftastend met akoestische gitaar en de warme stem van Mitchell, maar voegt bijna per zin een nieuw element aan het nummer toe. En zo is de track halverwege opeens rijkgevuld, om in de laatste minuut weer rustig af te bouwen naar de rust waarmee Comrade Sweetheart begon. Op slotnummer Cold Rain and Snow springt Bonny Light Horseman het meest uit de band, door de toevoeging van de elektrische gitaar. Het is een voorbeeld van de gave die Bonny Light Horseman heeft om het album zeer modern te laten klinken, ondanks dat Rolling Golden Holy voortbouwt op stokoude muziektradities. Met Rolling Golden Holy heeft Bonny Light Horseman een album gemaakt dat in meerdere opzichten tijdloos is. Het tiental tracks laat zich baseren op muziek die decennia en soms zelfs eeuwenoud is, terwijl je hier toch gewoon met tien gloednieuwe nummers te maken hebt. Tijdsgrenzen vervagen. En naar de toekomst gericht is Rolling Golden Holy een plaat die absoluut niet snel gaat vervelen. Een sfeervol herfstalbum dat spontaan het beeld van vallende bladeren, vroege zonsondergangen en kommen dampende pompoensoep oproept. Een duurzame bron van warmte dat nog vele najaren meegaat.