Since forming a decade and a half ago, Lubbock-hailing band Flatland Cavalry have proven themselves to be seekers. Musically, the outfit continues to turn in richer variations of the pastoral, country-tinged folk rock for which they’re known and loved. In their lyrics, they’re able to connect the domestic to the existential, with a spiritual bent made more potent by frontman Cleto Cordero’s ability to express complex emotions with his nimble performances and a palpable sense of hard-earned wonder. On Work of Heart, produced by Dwight A. Baker (Brandi Carlile, Josh Abbott Band), the band takes stock of a recent period of growth, loss and transformation. “Gone” is part travelogue and part daydream, as Cordero takes stock of where he’s been—“drunk with buds in Dublin”, “low down in New Orleans”—and imagines himself as a colourful character drifting in and out of frame. Behind him, the band builds a vibrant backdrop for his dreamy musings, with Wesley Hall’s fiddle adding conversational flourishes. Highlights abound elsewhere on Work of Heart, like the melodic mid-album cut “Unglued”, on which Cordero earnestly asks, “Isn’t it strange how years can bring emptiness from a good thing?” The band expands upon Work of Heart with this Heartstrings deluxe addition, adding five new tracks. “Hard Lessons” is a thoughtful ballad with lush harmonies and clever but downcast couplets like, “Unlearning hard lessons/Making friends with seasonal depression.” “Cinnamon Sugar (It’s Love)” has shades of Bob Dylan, especially in Cordero’s rich, dusky performance. The final new track is appropriately titled “One More Song”, and it ends the expanded LP on a tender note, as Cordero gently pleads for one more chance at connection.