Horse Feathers - Appreciation

  by Steve Kinrade

published: 31 / 5 / 2018

---

To myself, as the unrated into the world of Horse Feathers, its hard to reconcile how I haven’t come across them before. We are talking of a period of five albums over twelve years, and in some ways they have been seen by their fan base as a jealously guarded secret. I felt the same way about REM up until the 'Green' album. With that, the secret was out, and that spiritual experience of seeing a band absolutely caning it and being on top of their game soon dissipated.Those were the days... So I can sense how some Horse Feathers fans are feeling when they heart this album, because this could be their 'Green'. Not in a massive “take on the world sense” - although you never know fingers crossed, but I’m sure that this will be the album that gives them exposure to the bigger, broader audience. Appreciation is something to appreciate. It sounds fresh, summery, buoyant, bright, hitting the musical mark. This is country tinged folk rock of the highest order. The production is box-fresh crisp, and leaves the songs to breathe while showcasing the compositional strengths. Lead singer Justin Ringle's accessible tenor voice provides a lovely, warm melodic that sits perfectly within the instrumentation. The album kicks right off with the recent single 'Without Applause', a lovely groovy slice of country pop which scores a bullseye on any feel good target. It’s quickly followed by the lovely country soul hybrid 'Best to Leave', with its insistent bass line and soaring violin breaks. This track showcases Ringle’s voice to perfection. 'Altamont' pleasingly grooves to its satisfying conclusion, a nagging earworm of a track, in which it will be hard to resist the temptation to join in the on the chorus. It closes with 'On the Rise', the beautiful, tender vocals and the swelling of violins, at once both a cathartic and empathetic arrangement. It is an epistle of hope amongst the shimmering submission of the evening light. Hopefully, Horse Feathers will be doing some UK shows to promote this album, and I far one will hope to be there to see them. Again, if you aren’t au fait with this band, check them out, and you won't be disappointed. I predict with 'Appreciation', their fan base numbers will definitely be moving northwards. No bad thing either.

Track Listing:-

1 Without Applause
2 Born in Love
3 Best to Leave
4 Broken Beak
5 Don't Mean to Pry
6 Altamont
7 Evictions
8 Faultline Wail
9 The Hex
10 On the Rise

Band Links:-

https://en-gb.facebook.com/horsefeatherstheband/
http://horsefeatherstheband.com/
https://www.instagram.com/horsefeatherstheband/

Label Links:-

http://www.killrockstars.com/
https://www.facebook.com/killrockstarsofficial
https://twitter.com/killrockstars
https://www.youtube.com/user/KillRockStars
http://killrockstars.bandcamp.com/

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg