The Michigan band's fifth studio album but first to get help with distribution, The Threshold & the Hearth incorporates the Ragbirds' usual wide array of international folk influences, instruments, and rhythms into a warm, lusty folk-pop.
The five-piece ensemble is led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Erin Zindle, whose easygoing delivery matches the album's deceptively effortless-seeming arrangements, which span congas, electric guitar, and kalimba, to name a few.
Loosely following the narrative of a couple surviving life's highs and lows, The Threshold & the Hearth was produced by Grammy nominee Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, Ed Kowalczyk) at Big Sky Recording Studio in Ann Arbor.