Stream: The Milk Carton Kids, ‘North Country Ride’ and ‘Star Shine’

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The Milk Carton Kids (Photo by David McClister)

Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan are no longer kids, but they are still the Milk Carton Kids, a name they ostensibly chose because Pattengale & Ryan sounded too much like a law firm or haberdashery.

Their songwriting partnership having spanned 12 years with nary a solo project between them, they’ve pitched and twined their vocals just so, released six albums, earned Grammy nominations, bantered eruditely and, in general, abided the fine traditions of folk, telling stories and imbuing them with resonance.

On May 19, they will release their seventh full-length, “I Only See the Moon,” the follow-up to 2019’s short-ish (26 or so minutes) “The Only Ones.” If the brevity of that album suggested the duo’s partnership was losing zip, “I Only See the Moon” allays those fears.

Says Pattengale in announcing the new record: “Both of us have now lived enough life to understand that maybe one of the purposes we were put on Earth for is to sing together, to write songs together, to make music together. It has truly provided a direction for our lives.” Ryan adds: “It’s like a successful marriage in that there’s always been enough there between us collaboratively in the way that we work together, sing together, play together. It’s a very special thing. And I don’t think we ever took that for granted.”

The Milk Carton Kids last fall began rolling singles from the album, and now there are five of them, the latest being “North Country Ride,” an homage to a late uncle whose vivaciousness was an inspiration. “Star Shine” might be the most striking, a tune the duo says “lives in the ambiguous space between nostalgia and regret, where it sometimes feels like they’re the same thing.”

The duo have scheduled a small show next week to preview the album, and this fall they will curate the two-night (Oct. 7 and Oct. 8) Los Angeles Folk Festival at the Ford with Waxahatchee and Willie Watson. (They play on Night 2.)

||| Stream: “North Country Ride,” “Star Shine” and “Running On Sweet Smile”

||| Previously: “The Only Ones,” 2018 interview, live at Arroyo Seco Weekend, “Monterey,” “Honey, Honey”