Bandits on the Run -- Rough Magic

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Rough Magic marks the full-length sophomore effort from Bandits on the Run, the NYC collectivist folk trio acclaimed for their innovative arrangements and exquisite three-part harmonies. The trio play troubadour style, firmly rooted in their busker roots, attested by the ambient noises captured organically during the recording sessions and the three separate renditions of "May This Love." But Rough Magic is equally steeped in pop, with fine-tuned hooks, anthemic choruses you’ll hum before each song ends, and William Garrett’s immaculate production.

Album opening "Am I Your Mirror" sees Regina Strayhorn sing a beautiful love song to the self, with a gentle refrain of coming back to the body. She also handles lead vocals on the wounded "Like a Clam," recalling the soulful folk of Crys Matthews, and "Tilted Universe." The latter could be carried on the strength of Strayhorn’s voice alone, but it’s underpinned by banjo and a driving folk-rock stomp perfect for late summer evenings. Although "Tilted Universe" is undeniable, the album’s pinnacle belongs to "Love Pass Through" with Strayhorn conjuring tears with the power and sincerity of her vocal performance.

"O My Soul" sees Sydney Shepherd on her first lead vocal of the album, bringing to mind singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews. It’s a sumptuous and expansive arrangement that grows like a flower unfurling in the sun. On "White Chapel, Red Light" her vocals interplay with harmonies deeply rooted in the folk tradition, rather than the masterful pop of The Mamas & the Papas and Fleetwood Mac heard elsewhere on Rough Magic. Lyrically it draws on pastoral and fairy tale imagery without ever descending into meaningless whimsy. The same can be said of "Song for Jon," one of the album’s more surprising turns with an almost nursery rhyme quality providing a safe sonic space.

"Woods Alone at Night" showcases Adrian Blake Enscoe’s voice, one that wouldn’t feel out of place on a contemporary emo record. Their vocals pair perfectly on "lostlostlost," a deceptively simple song that induces a sense of being physically and spiritually lost, travelling through the moodiness evoked by strings, to feeling found by the ascending melody. But it’s "The Bell Rang," a disarmingly poignant song that speaks to loss, where Enscoe’s at their strongest.

Rough Magic is filled with the trio’s pristine harmonies, though it’s the title track where their three voices truly come together. Gentle and understated, it’s only acoustic guitar and vocals built around a simple arrangement. Here the voices are a conduit for the album’s most uplifting lyrics: "It takes time to live the life you wanna know," "Take your time, you see it better when it’s slow" and "Lift your hands, they will not rise alone." It has the feeling of a message you wish you could send your younger self; the kind of wisdom that needs to be lived to be learned but still provides a source of strength to receive. We all need that now more than ever.

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