Mercury Rev break free from the reins and take us on a ride through the psyche with Born Horses, an album that asks questions but doesn’t pretend to have all the answers.
Nestled in the seams of upstate New York, where the Catskills mountains meet the Hudson Valley, a sound rises, dense and otherworldly. It swells and spirals, mimicking the flow of local waters like Esopus Creek and the mighty Hudson River, carrying the fragments of our deepest hopes, fears, and dreams. This sound - an enchanting blend of organic and electronic - fuses guitars, keys, brass, strings, woodwind, and drums with an almost shamanic voice of incantations. Welcome to Born Horses, Mercury Rev’s ninth studio album, a pilgrimage that taps into the stream of consciousness with layers of psych-jazz-folk and ambient baroque flourishes.
Born Horses is both a nod to Mercury Rev's past and a record that hurtles down new paths. While rooted in the cosmic sounds the band are known for, the album stretches far beyond, creating a meditative and spiritual vibe that feels like a natural evolution. Founding members Jonathan Donahue and Grasshopper channel their deep connection to the psychogeography of their homes - Donahue in the hamlet of Mt Tremper, Grasshopper in Kingston - into this sprawling quest of an album, a cascade of sound and vision.
The album features the vital presence of new permanent member Marion Genser on keys, alongside long-term collaborator Jesse Chandler, and guests Jeff Lipstein on drums, Martin Keith on double bass, and Jim Burgess on trumpet. Together, they’ve created a record that builds on the ethereal mood of 2019’s Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited, adding a questing spirit that feels more expansive and inward-looking at the same time.
Influenced by avant-garde artist Tony Conrad and Beat poet Robert Creeley, to whom Born Horses is dedicated, the album doesn’t settle for easy answers. Instead, it searches its soul, unraveling layers that are lush yet elusive, grand yet intimate. The influence of Conrad’s experimental edge and Creeley’s poetic spirituality infuses the music with a sense of restless exploration. For those willing to join the journey, Born Horses is an album that invites you to explore its depths with an open mind and a receptive heart, to let the music itself take you through roads of reflection and reverie.