Release Date: April 26, 2011
An Horse has created an album that will be in heavy rotation for many indie fans this summer. Walls is a sharp record that doesn’t let the listener down for a moment, starting when “Dressed Sharply” kicks off the album.
The first thing listeners will notice is this male/female duo sounds a bit like other Australian female-fronted indie band, Life Without Buildings. Kate Cooper sings throughout the entire album and the listener will not grow tired of it. Many indie boys will probably develop indie-crushes on her. Walls will be dissected and taken apart and put onto many mixtapes this summer, without a doubt.
Instrumentally, Walls is very simple, but each guitar strum is chosen delicately. There isn’t any wasted space on this album sonically, but there also isn’t any movement to the album.
Walls is begging to tell the story of these estranged lovers in either a long distance or struggling relationship, but there is no clear narrative in the music. If you were to look at this album without the lyrics, the songs would look like they were all written separately and just put next to one another without any structure.
The most interesting part of this album is that even though it does lack a clear beginning, middle and end, if you look at each song on its own, the album isn’t far from being almost perfect. Each one of these songs is good on its own and has its own place.
Walls has a great start and grabs your attention, but it doesn’t end the way that it should. The last three songs seem a bit out of sync with each other. “Windows in the City,” the third to last track, is a very quiet song that, for the first half, is just whispering and single plucked guitar notes with heavy reverb until it builds a little into a bittersweet letdown: “Swallow the Sea.” The full-band sound and faster tempo of this track disrupts the mood An Horse created through the entire album.
However, “Tiny Skeletons” is a great closing track; its lyrics are up to par with the extremely personal story of these two lovers. The starting line being “Our favorite game was to count the eyelashes/That fell on my cheeks whenever you got a little anxious/You said it seemed it so strange that you could feel all my pain.” It makes the listener feel the dynamic of the relationship in the song.
An Horse has a strong sound of their own. The energy of their vocalist is complemented well with other member Damon Cox on instrumentals.
However, like new and old fans will agree, An Horse should push further out of their comfort zone. It’s a tricky decision to know when to do that as a band. In this case, An Horse didn’t deviate too much from their other material, but Walls is still an album worth checking out, especially for those still unfamiliar.
The best thing about Walls is each listener will find a personal experience listening to the album. This album is an intimate experience that will be unique for each person who connects to the lyrics. Walls will also be an album that will probably grow with time; some teenager who finds Walls years after it’s time has passed will consider it a gem.
An Horse – Walls Tracklisting:
- “Dressed Sharply”
- “Not Mine”
- “Airport Death”
- “Know This, We’ve Noticed”
- “Trains and Tracks”
- “Walls”
- “Brains on a Table”
- “100 Whales”
- “Leave Me”
- “Windows in the City”
- “Shallow the Sea”
- “Tiny Skeletons”
