Brown Horse Reservoir Loose Music A Confident Debut That is Pleasingly Difficult to Pigeonhole Earlier in 2023, I caught Brown Horse supporting Joshua Ray Walker in Manchester on the day that their signing to Loose was announced. Visually, they...
Brown Horse
Reservoir
Loose Music
A Confident Debut That is Pleasingly Difficult to Pigeonhole
Earlier in 2023, I caught Brown Horse supporting Joshua Ray Walker in Manchester on the day that their signing to Loose was announced.
Visually, they struck me as an eclectic bunch � the mix of a traditional guitar/bass/drums with pedal steel and a Heath Robinson mic setup on the piano accordion, giving the impression of something that was determined not to be constrained by preconceived notions of cool.
Musically, I picked up a lo-fi/indie/Americana vibe at that gig and that�s not too far from what has ended up on this release.
Opener �Stealing Horses� opens with Isbellesque guitar before a mellower tremulous Simone Feliceesque vocal leads into trippy accordion/banjo riffing.
It�s far greater than the sum of those parts, based as it is, around an insistent melody. Title track �Reservoir�, which follows is more downbeat in tone and the hiccupping narrative is wrapped in pads and swirls of accordion � mood music from the edges of several acoustic genres, cleverly existing within and outside the labels it�ll get tagged with.
�Shootback� also starts in a low-key vein before evolving into a hybrid of Neil Young and early Aztec Camera guitar Frippery (sic) � the common feature of these tracks so far is the insistent rhythm � �Everlasting� continues this mesmeric, hypnotic approach but adds layers of vocal and hookiness, with tinkling piano the icing on the cake.
�Bloodstain� takes a louder, riffier approach � positioned at the halfway point on the album, it�s the sonic H�hepunkt, certainly as far as volume is concerned.
�Paul Gilley� is a tale of tragedy about the writer who penned �Cold, Cold Heart� and �I�m So Lonesome I Could Cry� � part celebration, part eulogy with a wider tale of cathartic release through inspiration. Should be a single IMO�
�Sunfisher� which follows again examines the darker side of the soul, dealing as it does with sadder reflections, set against an almost anthemic arrangement of soaring fiddle.
�Silver Bullet�s� grungy garage rock is quite the contrast, with the tube and saturation turned up a notch on the guitars before the sway-along accordion-fest of �Outtakes� � and the classic use of a pause too. Final track �Called Away� starts with gentle folkie finger picking and close mic-ed breathy vocals declaring that �
�don�t you know it�s winter now?�
It�s an apt ending to the melancholy yet philosophical tone of the album.
A confident debut, that � pleasingly � is really difficult to pigeonhole � having said that, there�s the feel of the Felice Brothers all over this which is no bad thing.
With plenty of gigs in the diary for the start of 2024, you�re going to be hearing a lot more of this album, both far and near.
It�s the kind of music that benefits from repeated immersion, so best book those tickets and buy the album, because if you leave it too late, they�re going to sell out�.
Review by Nick Barber
released 19th January 2024
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