Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free explained

Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free
Type:	studio
Artist:	Bonny Light Horseman
Cover:	Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me on Your Mind.png
Alt:	A painting of the face of a woman with a black bob haircut.
Studio:	Levis Corner House, Ballydehob, Ireland
Genre:	Folk^[1]
Length:	63:16
Label:	Jagjaguwar
Prev Title:	Rolling Golden Holy
Prev Year:	2022

Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free is the third studio album by folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman, released on June 7, 2024, through Jagjaguwar. It received positive reviews from critics.

Writing and recording

The album was written over the span of five months. Most of the album was recorded at the Levis Corner House pub in Ballydehob, Ireland, with additional recording taking place in Los Angeles.

Critical reception

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Mark Deming called it "is state-of-the-art contemporary pop-folk" and felt that, "with each LP Bonny Light Horseman deliver stronger work; deciding to put their songwriting chops to work may be the smartest thing they've done to date." Mojo commented that "Bonny Light Horseman probably could've said just as much over half the tracks, but the fact they had the courage to keep digging ever deeper into their emotional turbulence has bourne spectacular results", while Uncut felt that "only a couple of tracks into Bonny Light Horseman's third album, it's clear this is something special. Beauty erupts from the vocal harmonies of Eric Johnson and Anais Mitchell, who lift the Technicolor folk-rock of 'Lover Take It Easy' into something close to heaven. And then it keeps getting better".

Eric R. Danton of Paste wrote that there is "scarcely a dud among the 18 songs" and "though the album feels long at 63 minutes, Johnson, Kaufman and Mitchell fill that time with reflections on longing, growing older and a pastoral kind of life—all rendered in the soft light and lengthening shadows of a late summer afternoon fading toward evening". Reviewing the album for Exclaim!, Anthony Boire concluded that "the few moments of experimentation are outweighed by an assured grasp of traditional instrumentation, and it works out for the better. This is a well-travelled band firing on all cylinders."

Year-end lists

Publication/critic! scope="col"

Accolade	Rank
BBC Radio 6 Music	26 Albums of the Year 2024	style="text-align: center;"	-	^[2]
Rough Trade UK	Albums of the Year 2024	74	^[3]
Uncut	80 Best Albums of 2024	53	^[4]

Personnel

Bonny Light Horseman

• Anaïs Mitchell – vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–14, 16–20), guitar (3, 5, 8–11, 16, 18, 19)
• Eric D. Johnson – vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–14, 16–20), guitar (3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18), synthesizer (3, 7, 11), Wurlitzer (5, 17), piano (5, 20), banjo (8, 9)
• Josh Kaufman – production (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5–12, 16–18), piano (2, 6, 7, 14, 17–19), Wurlitzer (3, 7, 9, 10, 13), mandolin (3, 8, 18), vocals (5, 8–10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20), synthesizer (5, 17, 20), harmonica (5, 17), harmonium (7, 12), organ (10, 11, 17, 18, 20), bass (10, 17, 20); keyboards, loops (10); tambourine (12), Hammond organ (16), vibraphone (19)

Additional musicians

• JT Bates – drums (tracks 1–3, 5–14, 16–20), percussion (2, 3, 5, 7–11, 13, 14, 16, 18–20), vocals (5, 14), congas (7)
• Mike Lewis – bass (tracks 1, 3, 12, 13, 16–18), saxophone (2, 10, 14), vocals (14)
• Annie Nero – bass (tracks 2, 19), vocals (2)
• Nathan Vanderpool – vocals (tracks 2, 5, 14), guitar (18)
• Cameron Ralston – bass (tracks 5–9, 11, 14), vocals (5, 14), guitar (19)
• Levis Town Chorus – vocals (tracks 5, 6, 8, 9, 14)
• Molly O'Mahony – tambourine (track 5)
• Gillian Pelkonen – vocals (track 5)

Technical

• D. James Goodwin – mastering, mixing
• Bella Blasko – engineering
• Gillian Pelkonen – engineering
• Nathan Vanderpool – engineering

Charts

Chart (2024)! scope="col"

Peak position
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[5]	14

Notes and References

1. Bonny Light Horseman's Illustrious Harmony Vocal Connection Leads Sincere Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free (Album Review). Glide Magazine. Donohue. Shawn. June 6, 2024. June 11, 2024. This combo helps the band combine their historical folk music love with modern sonic touches..
2. Web site: BBC Radio 6 Music . Albums of the Year 2024 . 2024-11-27 . BBC.com.
3. Web site: November 19, 2024 . Albums of the Year 2024 . November 20, 2024 . roughtrade.com.
4. Web site: Pearis . Bill . November 8, 2024 . List Season comes early with Uncut's Top 80 Albums of 2024 . November 12, 2024 . brooklynvegan.com.
5. Web site: Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 24. Sverigetopplistan. June 15, 2024.