“Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair” by The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus

First popularized as an Appalachian folk ballad in the early 1900s, though almost certainly much older than that, “Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair” has been covered by numerous artists, including Joan Baez, The Corrs, Rhiannon Giddens, Christy Moore, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone, The Smothers Brothers, and The Twilight Singers — to name but a few. Not surprisingly, the Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus’s take on the song is particularly lovely, filled with striking vocal harmonies and slowly building arrangements comprised of drones, flutes, and thundering percussion.

At barely four minutes, the song is — quite frankly — over far too quickly. But hopefully, it’s a sign of more music to come from the still enigmatic outfit. In the meantime, the Army will be performing later this month in Leipzig, Germany at the 33rd annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen, one of the world’s largest gothic festivals.