Artist:     Lonely Heartstring Band

Album:     Smoke & Ashes

Label:     Rounder Records

Release Date:     02.01.19

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The title and cover suggest something pure and timeless—the American heartland prairie, perhaps, or some similar natural landscape from any point in the last couple centuries. At first, though, Smoke & Ashes gives those expectations a little jolt sideways. Instead of anything obviously folky, the opening “Reverie” eases in with a stream of piano notes floating through the air like sad streams of smoke.

It’s a misleading little moment since the piano doesn’t appear again after those first twenty seconds. Soon it naturally gives way to the band’s namesake strings (guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin). The dreamy mood remains even as their plucking and sawing weave a spell that’s both comforting and unsettled. It’s a mix that lingers throughout this colorful affair—there’s some big-world uncertainty among the themes here, but the resulting songs are nothing if not hopeful.

The tone keeps shifting throughout while the band’s ear for a hook never falters: Americana may provide the roots, but they continually branch out through every other style they know and love. Hoppers like “The Other Side” and “Just a Dream” are swampy and infectious, while the band offers some beautiful pastoral balladry with “Red Bird Flies” or the defiantly positive “Only Fallen Down.” In any mode, the appealing melodies keep winding along with the effortless flow of a clear mountain stream.

Gabe Hirshfeld’s banjo initially stands out as the busiest piece of the puzzle, but nothing really risks getting too flashy. The important thing is the sound these five create as a whole, not just with those interwoven strings but some sweet-as-wine vocal harmonies on top. In the end, the band’s stated aim is to offer the listener a positive boost, whether they’re feeling up or down. On that score, we can count Smoke & Ashes an assuredly humble success.

—Geno Thackara