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The best alternative folk group no one has heard of is back once again to incessantly bounce around your head for days, and tug on your heart strings for even longer. Horse Feathers, the Portland, Ore., outfit centered around frontman Justin Ringle, returns on April 17 with its fourth studio album, Cynic’s New Year.
The group slowly emerged onto the scene when Ringle started performing under the moniker in 2004 and has featured a revolving cast of members since. The current lineup features Ringle, Nathan Crockett, Dustin Dybvig, Lauren Vidal and Angie Kuzma. The string players, made up of Kuzma on violin, Vidal on cello and Crockett, also on violin, provide the quintet with the warm and soft substance that makes its songs addictive and accessible.
The record is soothing and contains the languid ebb and flow of emotion due primarily to the tender sincerity of Ringle’s voice. The singer gently but effectively leads the listener on a meandering journey through sorrow, strife and poignant reminiscence.
Cynic’s New Year analyzes simple yet quintessentially American ideals such as hard work, and the difficult pursuit of success with stark honesty, poignancy and depth.
These blue collar themes of hard, grueling work in pursuit of the American Dream are most evident in the single, “Fit Against the Country,” in which Ringle wrestles with the difficulty of the never-ending industrial grind, droning, “Every night we all go to a house we will never own, every night we are tired, we’ve been worked to the bone.”
Other tracks, such as “So Long,” demonstrate an elegantly simple yet deep understanding of the human condition, providing universal appeal that can reel in even the most narrow-minded listener.
The utter eloquence of the song’s chorus, “Beauty and loss, they are one in the same / youth and in vain they are one in the same,” stand as proof to the effortless brilliance of Ringle’s writing. The minimal, moving lyrics mixed with graceful and intricately woven string arrangements that tenderly dance in perfect harmony with Ringle’s velvety croon, make for a sultry and continuously heartfelt and honest listening experience.
Throughout the record, Ringle’s voice is reminiscent of a warm blanket on a frigid winter night – it is soothing, inviting and you never want to stop wrapping yourself up in it once you’ve started.
A perfect album for a lazy Sunday afternoon, Cynic’s New Year provides the perfect opportunity to be enveloped by the inviting calm of serene musical pleasure.
