In the introduction to his review of Bonny Light Horseman‘s 2022 album, Rolling Golden Holy, KLOF Mag’s Bob Fish emphasised the advancing shift the trio’s music had taken since the release of their 2020 self-titled debut: “…they’ve made something even more memorable because they take even more chances. Anaïs 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.” Not that their debut still doesn’t carry significant resonance, as evidenced in our first Reflections Playlist, an artist-curated playlist in which Jenny Sturgeon and Boo Hewrdine (Outliers) chose some choice tunes. Bonny Light Horseman’s rendition of Magpie’s Nest was Jenny’s choice, who shared that she “…played this album on repeat throughout 2020…”.
Having just signed to Jagjaguwar, this week saw the release of their debut single for the label – When I Was Younger, which finds them exploring that common traditional ballad theme of regret and cranking that notch again to take their music to another level.
The accompanying lyric video was recorded at Levis (pronounced “leh-viss”) Corner House–a century-old Irish watering hole in Ballydehob, County Cork. They shared the following on the song:
“There’s a whole genre of trad songs with this ‘domestic frustration’ sentiment, like ‘Single Girl Married Girl,’ ‘Wish I Was A Single Girl Again,’ etc. This song is inspired by those, but we wanted to write it as a duet, to tell two sides of a story,” says the band. “We recorded it live, so you can hear coughing, cars, and the whole audience did that wordless wail with us in the middle. It felt like a primal collective shake-off. Next morning we were collecting our things from the pub and the owner Joe was out front in flip-flops sweeping up the cigs from the street singing, ‘When I was younger, I used to dress fancy…’”
It must have been one hell of an evening to have caught this in such an intimate setting; it’s a truly outstanding performance and also our Song of the Day.
Video footage by Jason Lee, Donal Scannell, and Colm Rooney.
Stream/Buy When I Was Younger: https://blh.lnk.to/When-I-Was-Younger
New US tour dates: http://bonnylighthorseman.com/