"River Runs Through" doesn't need its full 8-plus minute run time. Lea Thomas is done singing long before the song's melodic throughline finally fades, but the pastoral song's persistent presence is just one thoughtful facet of this valuable gift for the listener. It's also the perfect example of what makes Lea Thomas's music so important.

Thomas's compositions are lived-in and thought-through, filled with a deeper abiding wisdom that belies the artist's youth. Songs like "River Runs Through" feel like they were slowly discerned and received from the muse, and they're offered as companion songs for those willing to slow down enough to soak in them.

Cosmos Forever is Thomas's forthcoming album (out on Triple Dolphin on September 20 and it's filled with the sort of pastoral beauty found here. For now, enjoy a taste of Thomas's latest single.

Here are the lyrics to "River Runs Through":

A river runs through us
It pushes and pulls us
A room full of strangers
To witness each other
And what kind of magic
Has brought us together
Right here
Right now

A river runs through us
It runs on forever
It gathers our stories
Of love and of worry
A mirror before us
Above and below us
That brings us together
Right here
Right now

Oh brother the light bends over your head
And I see the river run through you
And sister the night turns into your hair
And I see the river run through you

VISIT: Lea Thomas