With Cynic’s New Year, bandleader Justin Ringle expands the scope of Horse Feathers’ delicate indie folk by bringing in multiple musicians to create a bigger version of their sound. His gentle, whispery vocals remain front and centre, using plaintive melody to direct the gorgeous strings of “Bird On a Leash” or the soft, swirling banjo of “Fit Against the Country”. The band’s Pacific Northwest earthiness shines alongside their Appalachian influences throughout, combining deceptively buoyant spirits with down-home fiddle on “Nearly Old Friends”.