Horse Feathers -- Thistled Spring

This is very fine chamber-folk music.

The debut Horse Feathers album Words Are Dead had it all wrong because it was all about the words, and not enough about the musical accompaniment, which was so spartan as to seem almost non-existent. The second album House With No Home began to redress the balance, and this third album seems to get it just about right, putting equal emphasis on Justin Ringle's poetic, melancholy reflections and the occasionally sprightly, and almost always lush, accompaniment. Cellos, violas, and violin star here, but Ringle's acoustic guitar is a constant, and trumpet and banjo peak through occasionally. It's still a bit monochromatic, but at least it's monochromatically lovely. It's music not so much for the front porch as the front parlor, and I'm encouraged by a good band that is getting better.