Horseback - Dead Ringers (Relapse Records) 2016
9
There is a faint but indelible string tying England’s pastoral folk roots and the industrial/post-punk movement that followed decades later, but it’s taken an outsider to pick up the thread so fully in the 21st century. Horseback’s aptitude for contrast again drives these compositions, but rather than positing harshness and void, the opposition here lies in its utilisation of synthesised textures and organic melody, showcasing a strangely alien vulnerability that proves more affecting than the most maudlin of singer/songwriters. It’s folktonica’s weird cousin, the one that dabbled in too many psychedelics and made themselves at home on the other side of the looking glass, and whether it’s lolling in the fields or rocking out to squirrely synths, Dead Ringers sounds content to be out-there.