For a decade (encompassing five well-received albums), Horse Feathers were known for delicately gorgeous acoustic folk songs, often dressed up with orchestral arrangements and anchored by frontman Justin Ringle’s cerebral lyrics. But on 2014’s So It Is with Us, the Portland-born institution started prudently exploring new sounds, tempos, and textures.
That exploration blooms in full on the band’s new record, Appreciation, released earlier this month via Kill Rock Stars, which finds Ringle, longtime violinist Nathan Crockett, and a new rhythm section—multi-instrumentalist J. Tom Hnatow and drummer Robby Cosenza, both Lexington, Kentucky-based session musicians—ripping through country-rockers, stirring soul jams, 1970s-inspired pop, and gentle Southern boogie. These aren’t necessarily twang-punk scorchers, but they also aren’t reflective of the old Horse Feathers.