Single of the week: Bonny Light Horseman – Green Rocky Road

By Phil Scarisbrick

At the start of the year, Bonny Light Horseman released their self-titled debut album – creating one of the most wonderfully-crafted records of the year, before 2020 had even got going. Now they return with a new 7″ release called Green/Green – comprising of two songs that were left off the album. Green Rocky Road and Greenland Fishery were cut simply to allow the band to cut a higher quality record on vinyl, and now we get to hear the former ahead of the new release.

The track, although certainly of the Bonny Light Horseman stable, does feel different to what we got on the finished album. Eric D. Johnson’s banjo features prominently, while both the lyrics and vocal harmonies recall Americana pioneers, The Band, to create a song that fits firmly in that genre bracket. The ‘Who do you love?‘ refrain is delivered with an exacerbated exhale, acting as a sharp axis to the gorgeous three part harmonies of the rest of the chorus.

With the abundance of new music that we have listened to since January, it is very easy for relatively new music like the their debut album to sit on the shelf. If nothing else, this new release has brought the band back into focus and reminded us of how great their debut is. This song stands up on its own right though, proving that Bonny Light Horseman are no one trick ponies.

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