One of Missouri's best, Ha Ha Tonka's first record in six years offers music for all seasons

Elemental forces push and pull Ha Ha Tonka throughout the band's latest record.

Songs and scenes unfurl beneath a titular "BloodRedMoon"; at least three rivers run through this set; and time — with its bittersweet passage and spectral presence — molds each measure.

Then again, Ha Ha Tonka has long made elemental music. String-band resonance, close-shaved harmonies and, especially here, romantic sound beds allow Ha Ha Tonka to sound deep, earthy echoes of its native Ozarks.

On its first album in six years, one of the finest bands ever to emerge from Missouri offers something like a brand-new greatest-hits record. Ha Ha Tonka distills the many things it does well into an even purer form while letting life's natural gaps and gestures weather these 12 songs toward revelation.

A series of hootenanny handclaps jumpstarts opener "Just Like That," but anyone who knows the band knows the song will evolve beyond its earliest shape. Frontman Brian Roberts acknowledges the passage of a half-dozen years — and makes it feel like no time at all — with his first lyric, "Just like that / we got older than / We got older than the plans that changed."

The song charges ahead with momentum that's built on, never hindered by, rhythmic hitches and dueling electric guitars. Eventually, the clouds part just enough for the Tonka boys to wrap their near-sacred harmonies around words of hope: "Just like that / A new dream begins / A new dream so big it never ends."

The title track follows, immediately finding that signature sweet spot where undulating rhythms and big questions meet.

"What are we gonna tell our friends?" Roberts sings, digging further into one of the band's abiding concerns — hitting the road and leaving loved ones behind.

"We're taking off / We'll see you soon / When the night is lit by a blood red moon."

Early in the tracklist, "Carry It Around" arrives with the warp and weave of electric piano. Playing the spaces and textures here, the band frames one of its strongest lyrics yet, Roberts sounding an awful lot like "Wildflowers"-era Tom Petty:

"Everybody's got a map in the head / With a road to the heart / And the weight of the world / You can help them carry it around."

Less than 90 seconds long, "Old Rye River" rings with the integrity and overtones of a 150-year-old folk song rather than a rock 'n' roll interlude. "Try Your Life On For Size," a title worthy of the Ha Ha Tonka canon, follows with gentle vibrations and plaintive piano.

"Just Like That" evolves in more ways than one, with the reprise "Just Like That Again" bending the opener and burnishing its edges to refract the sort of golden light Wilco shines. Then the track turns on a dime, becoming more upbeat and visceral; it's not quite the unbidden stomp feel of an older cut like "Arabella," but sounds worthy of its company.

Late in the tracklist, "Tired and Stuck" grows from a killer guitar tone, the sort that might belong to a big tent revival or a backlit barroom. And "Scattered on the Ground" converts its warm, synth-driven shimmer into a sad-eyed lament, Roberts surveying the world and singing how "so many thoughts and prayers are scattered on the ground."

With its quiet but very present undercurrents, "Scattered on the Ground" joins earlier tracks like "Carry It Around" and "Somehow It Gets Away From You" in approximating what Ha Ha Tonka's take on the Springsteen classic "Tunnel of Love" might sound like.

It feels right that "BloodRedMoon" comes in early autumn; Ha Ha Tonka so often writes the sound of turned-up collars, of the gales that send leaves chasing one another in mystic circles.

But this one, like all the band's records, suits every season. Hard winds will always blow; riverbeds dry, only to receive rain and rush again; moonlight clarifies the map; and the sound of other voices heartens our each next step. In this way, it could be six years or 16 — each new Ha Ha Tonka record arrives right on time.

Ha Ha Tonka will play Columbia's Rose Music Hall 8 p.m. Thursday with Black Bear Boxer; tickets are $15-$20. Visit https://rosemusichall.com/ for more details.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Ha Ha Tonka's first record in six years offers music for all seasons