Brown Horse - Reservoir

I first saw Brown Horse play live one night in early 2022. It was an intimate (or more a sardines in a can) gig in one of Norwich’s prime music hotspots, the record shop Lowell. A buzz of wistful nostalgia with spunky, country-twang vocals, noodly guitar melodies and quirky accordion explosions with more rock-infused drumming and jazzy keyboard chords. I left hoping to have a few songs to listen to on Spotify, and yet I only had two (‘Shoot Back’ and ‘Willow’).

Now, the alt-country band have released a full LP:Reservoir. It’s a brilliant debut with all the flavours and buzz of that very special gig. Taking influence from country legends like Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson and even the famous cowboy actor/singer Jimmie Rodgers (referenced in the first track ‘Stealing Horses’), Brown Horse take the elements of old country through tales of lost highways, alienation and a fascination with the rural life. Starting out as a folk quartet in 2018, the group spent their early days playing old time standards, Michael Hurley covers and original songs in pubs across England. In 2022, the group moved towards a rockier sound when introducing Ben Auld on drums and in 2023 Phoebe Troup joined as an additional vocalist. Comparisons to artists like Songs: Ohia, Mojave 3, Big Thief and Will Oldham can be made. Yet, even with all the American imagery and southern accent, the band still sound incredibly Norwich.

The album opens with the track***‘Stealing Horses’**,* a stunning introduction to the rambling lonesome cowboy figure that lead singer Patrick Turner embodies. It sets the mood of the album well with the wispy, almost crumbling, vocals and melancholic lyrics. It’s a song about a lost love who’s heard singing along to Jimmie Rodgers’ country gem ‘Muleskinner Blues’. The sighing lap steel melody mixed with the pirate sounding accordion has your head bopping and heeled bootie tapping, while the shimmery drum bashes and frenetic banjo plucking create a heady, psychedelic swirling feel. It’s feel-good rock ‘n’ roll with 90s Yo La Tengo level distortion and fuzz and sad lyrics.

The bitter tone carries on throughout most of the album.‘Reservoir’ starts with an acoustic guitar line that sounds almost identical to Neil Young’s ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ but keeps pretty low-tempo with wave-like guitar slides and subtle pushes and pulls of the accordion. Inner turmoil and deterioration are shown through the pounding stream of one and two syllable words. ‘Shoot Back’, the lead single of the album, is the boppiest of the lot but still has a sad subject matter. The electric guitar takes on a southern hillbilly twang, the bass grooves, the keyboard has a Steely Dan ‘Aja’ sentiment. The track is explosive with everything heard at full volume. The keyboard takes a more Billy Joel turn in ‘Everlasting’, a song about leaving the city strife. ‘Bloodstain’ sounds like a homage to another Neil Young song, ‘Down By The River’. Chaotic and messy, the harmonising between Patrick and Phoebe manages to convey anger and desperation in a clear and not quite as crumbly way.

***‘Paul Gilley’might be the most heart-wrenching on the record. It’s a song about a singer who drowned in 1957 by drowning. Not much of his music exists because his mother destroyed most of it. Finally, the track‘Carried Away’***closes the album in a more introspective, hushed way. Reflecting on the heartbreak and loneliness discussed in the album, the lonesome cowboy seems to have found a place of respite with the sounds of bird song and a flowing river heard at the start. No drumming, no frayed guitar melodies, it almost seems like an anaemic track compared to the rest of the LP.

Reservoir stands as a testament to Brown Horse’s ability to blend nostalgic country elements with a more modern, alt-rock edge. At points it’s distressed and elliptic, at other points meditative, diving and swooping. These are well-arranged songs with punchy hooks. And although it often feels like the lyrics are obscured, the romantic anguish is felt deeply through the clouds of Neil Young reminiscent guitar riffs and haunting, ethereal harmonies.

7/10