Societies sometimes sing their best songs for centuries. Consider the worn murder ballads of the Appalachians, which still send shivers down spines and inspire new renditions.

Ancient as they may be, these tunes still resonate emotionally, echoing some feeling each of us has likely felt.

The best songs of North Carolina's BOWERBIRDS have always seemed equally eternal. Coruscated by Beth Tacular's bird song and Phil Moore's environmentalist empathy, "In Our Talons" was, at its core, a quest for solidarity in a world of closing shadows.

"Northern Lights" painted a pained portrait of love shrouded in doubt as perfectly as Cash, Dylan or Cohen ever have.

These felt like more than songs; they felt like treasures. But those recordings were made on the quick and the cheap, with nylon-stringed guitars, fiddle lines and drum patterns that became comfortable.

You could imagine these songs as old stateside standards, because, really, that's how they sounded - campfire anthems sung by a couple clinging to very deep love.

"The Clearing" is the third album by the BOWERBIRDS, and as is often the case for bands that have found steady success, they had more time and better resources to make it.

This is a bigger record, then, with bolder sounds and a broader scope. Thing is, these songs don't cede to the increased production demands.

The guitars and strings, codas and bridges simply make these thoughts more urgent, more vital and more necessary, but not one bit less permanent.

For the BOWERBIRDS, "The Clearing" represents the perfect realization of a fresh, timely outlook.

Here, there's acceptance with ambition, patience with aspirations, understanding with intelligence.

On "The Clearing", Phil and Beth sing of the best and most important moments of their life and, in turn, create new ones.

In this blistering world, these songs are the rarest sort of balm. "The Clearing" was recorded with Brian Joseph in Wisconsin's treasured new studio, April Base, and with the help of some righteous microphones in a tiny, battered North Carolina cabin built by freed slaves during Reconstruction.

"The Clearing" was mixed by Nicolas Vernhes in New York's Rare Book Room. "The Clearing" is available on Dead Oceans starting in March 2012 - and, subsequently, forever.