The first notes play, and I'm immediately reminded of the title track of Under a Violet Moon, an album released more than two decades ago by the same band.

That's not a complaint. Blackmore's Night -- a long-running project headed by long-time couple Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night -- has a fun, lively pop-renaissance sound that has evolved over the years but retains a very distinctive personality. I'm not saying the 10 tracks on Nature's Light sound exactly like the music on Violet Moon -- but if you heard the tracks mixed, you wouldn't blink at the dichotomy.

This is, according to the press materials that accompanied an advance copy of the album, their 11th studio recording -- although it's only the fourth I've heard and reviewed -- and their first new release in six years. Each time Blackmore's Night crosses my path, I find myself enjoying the music immensely. As I've noted in the past, their style might be dismissed by some as "neo-renaissance fluff" intended for a "plugged-in ren-faire crowd" ... but that's not necessarily a bad thing, either. Anyone who's listened to Renaissance-era music knows the intricacy of its arrangements, and pop music is popular for a reason. Combining them when there's so much talent involved simply works.

So who's at the helm of this project? Well, Blackmore earned his credentials as a rock guitarist with British rock Hall of Famers Deep Purple -- he was there at the band's founding in 1968 and stayed with them until 1975, then rejoined them from 1984 to 1993, often considered the band's most successful and progressive eras -- and neoclassical metal-pop band Rainbow, with whom founder Blackmore performed from 1975 to 1984, from 1993 to 1997 and from 2015 to, well now. Although best known for his work in hard rock and heavy metal bands, Blackmore has never blushed at his fondness for pop, and he successfully melds their sounds here. On Nature's Light he plays acoustic and electric guitars, hurdy-gurdy, nickelharpe and mandola.

His partner Night (nee Isralow) was a model, disc jockey and starstruck fan of Rainbow when she met Blackmore in 1989. Although she only wanted an autograph at the time, the two struck up a conversation that led to marriage in 2008. With his encouragement she polished her lead vocal chops, developed a wide range of instrumental skills and honed her craft as a lyricist. Here, the native New Yorker sings lead and harmony, and she plays various renaissance and medieval woodwinds and tambourines. Her vocals have certainly matured over the years, but they still evoke a strong but delicate sweetness.

Night's ethereal vocals dominate the album, although Blackmore's edgier guitar lines certainly demand notice. The lyrics are mostly by Night, the music by Blackmore or from a traditional source. (The first track, "Once Upon December," borrows the melody of "Fuggi, Fuggi, Fuggi," a traditional Italian song I remember well being sung by Owain Phyfe on Where Beauty Moves & Wit Delights by the New World Renaissance Band.) If a lot of it sounds like it would fit in at a renaissance faire -- well, that's intentional. Blackmore and Night have been known to perform at faires around the country, where I've no doubt songs like "Nature's Light" (lyrics: "All hail the queen/ Into a world I've never seen") and "Going to the Faire" seem custom-made for the setting.

The band is, at its root, a duo, but Blackmore and Night use plenty of other musicians in the studio and on tour. On Nature's Light, their band is Bard David of Larchmont (David Baranowski) on keyboards and backing vocals, Earl Grey of Chimay (Mike Clemente) on bass, mandolin and rhythm guitar, Troubadour of Aberdeen (David Keith) on drums and percussion, Scarlet Fiddler (Claire Smith) on violin and Lady Lynn (Christina Lynn Skleros) on backing vocals. The couple's children, Autumn and Rory Blackmore, provide additional vocals on "Going to the Faire."

Bottom line: If you like renaissance rock, you'll love this. It certainly fits into a niche that isn't to everyone's taste, but it's a niche Blackmore and Night have made their own.