The three members of Bonny Light Horseman have all enjoyed varying degrees of individual success in their music careers, but the two albums of modern folk that they’ve recorded together to date have demonstrated a heightened, uncommon sense of alchemy that has produced special results. Anaïs Mitchell is perhaps the most well-known of the three, having released a string of acclaimed solo albums and enjoyed Broadway success with the adaptation of her Hadestown album. Eric D Johnson, meanwhile, has pursued his Fruit Bats project alongside playing with The Shins, and Josh Kaufman has worked with The National, Hiss Golden Messenger and Josh Ritter, among others

Their third album, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free, goes broader and deeper than ever before. Its 20 tracks possess a tangible uplift in the quality of songwriting and confidence. There’s an ease and a hominess to the music, each song flowing into the next, and the whole wrapped up with tight production and a delightful sense of play. It’s a double album, but it never feels too long; in fact, you’ll probably find yourself flipping back to the beginning to start over once you’ve finished. These kinds of songs are made for drinking tea by a cosy woodstove, which is made for the hearth and home

Some of this cosy feeling comes from the setting of the album’s recording session. Mitchell was enamoured with the century-old Irish pub Levis Corner House in the little village of Ballydehob in Ireland’s County Cork. She took a chance to record the album there, setting it up in the cramped but homey confines of this community gathering place. The band invited the community, bringing a kind of Irish session ambience to the recording. You’ll hear coughs, conversations, and applause as the Cork locals live their lives through the recording space. It’s both an ode to small village life and a homage to the informal nature of early folk recordings

In the album’s early stages, the band gently feels their way in, showcasing Mitchell and Johnson’s remarkable vocal chemistry. There’s an intimacy and closeness to how their voices interact on Keep Me On Your Mind and Lover Take It Easy, drawing on personal experiences to deliver rich and immediately affecting songs. They may be formed from familiar sounds and structures, but magic runs through them and gives them a timeless quality.

Old Dutch kickstarts an even stronger run of tracks, the album’s defining centre ground, possessing a glorious, radio-friendly melodicism. Endorphins are released, wind metaphorically rushes through the hair, and musical rays of sunshine kiss the face. By contrast, the utterly authentic When I Was Younger sounds like a bootleg of the band playing a now-legendary live set. Audible audience coughs are kept in, and that rare electric guitar solo is pockmarked with buzzy imperfections before the song explodes into Johnson and Mitchell’s harmonies wailing into the night. It’s an album highlight and one of the most gorgeous songs the band has ever recorded

Hare And Hound sees the pace pick up noticeably, a bluegrass-informed wild ride with further stunning vocal interplay between Johnson and Mitchell. It’s rare for Mitchell to be vocally eclipsed, but the moments of controlled projection from Johnson are exhilarating and bring vitality to the song. It’s made even more powerful in how it’s followed by the gentle lullaby of Rock The Cradle, with Kaufman handling lead vocals here. Singing To The Mandolin‘ is a particular standout here –  its full-throated backing vocals by a multitude of voices make it feel like a midnight pub singalong.  The Clover arrives next, a bittersweet reflection on the passing of time. By this stage, it already feels like a contemporary alt-country classic, with a distinct shift away from the folkier leanings of their earlier albums towards more of an Americana sound here

While previous releases relied on traditional songs to lend a weight to their art, Bonny Light Horseman have become a primordial, acoustic force of nature on Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free. Most of these songs sound like they were written over a century ago and performed with instruments just as ancient. The only sounds that don’t murmur with age are Mitchell and Johnson’s clear, full-throated voices. With a few folk-pop dabbling exceptions, the trio maintain the timeless, fireside publican house atmosphere for the entire runtime. By the time Johnson engages his cracked, controlled falsetto on Your Arms (All the Time) to cry out, “Your hands all the time / And the lighting of the candles / For the loves gone by!” it’s clear he’s stating the intention of the entire collection of songs. An assured grasp of traditional instrumentation outweighs the few moments of experimentation, and it works out for the better. This is a well-travelled band firing on all cylinders. There’s something life-affirming in that