Mountain Man – Magic Ship

'I’m me, I’ve found it / But I was lost / I was bored by the thought of wanting more,' sings Molly Erin Sarlé in the opening breaths of Window, the first Mountain Man song in eight years. She wrote that about songs seven years ago. A gloriously gifted vocalist, she could make that line land like a long sigh of relief no matter when it was sung. But sung now, as the trio settle in North Carolina, returning to their beloved band, it feels like home.

Just like their 2010 debut, Magic Ship is a quietly comforting collection of indie folk and a capella songs, made of intricate harmonies and quotidian lyrics. The very best elements of their work remain intact. The songs are resonant and cleverly unhurried – the group aren’t afraid to sit in silence, letting a feeling wash over the listener for a beat before continuing their story.

In fact, the resonance of their performances is heightened by the stunning engineering of Nick Sanborn, who plays in Sylvan Esso with member Amelia Meath. Each song finds new ways to light up the trio’s – completed by Alexandra Sauser-Monnig – voices to fill in the space surrounding them. AGT is wonderfully crisp, each note caught at its closest and rawest. You can feel the group shifting their weight around each other on Stella. Wrapped in headphones, you can clearly sense where each member is in relation to each other, every escaping smile and bird chirp colouring the listen.

The lyrics are just as naked. The Barbershop-leaning closer Guilt urges the listener not to be too hard on themselves for an embarrassing moment that still haunts them from when they were ’10 or 12 / Or even 25.’ It’s a short motif, less than a minute, but combined with the rest of these songs, each capturing one of the many humble moments that make up a life, it feels grand and reassuring.

Listen to: Stella, Blue Mountain, Guilt