3 out of 5

Label: RVNG Intl

Produced by: Adam Asnan (Berlin) and Jared Paolini (Baltimore) (recorded by)

I’ve described albums as having barriers to entry, but I’m not sure if I’ve yet used the term “difficult;” not that that’s an original adjective to apply, more specific to how I listen to things: I might sense a ramp up, or multiple spins ‘unlock’ the sound in some way – I’m just not apt to call a release “difficult.” And yet, that’s what’s coming to mind with Horse Lords’ “We Demand to be Taken to Heaven Alive!”

Taking into account the equally petulant and fed-up and forthright ways that album name can be taken, alongside the inspirational line around which the music may be themed – “We seek a city yet to come,” from an 1802 Thomas Kelly hymn – there is the expectation that the 12-track cycle of the album may be a type of petition, or, as per that title, a demand. It’s… not. At least in any traditional fashion.

HL started as a kind of math-adjacent instrumental act, incorporating some funkiness and krautrock repetition into their angular rhythms. That very much evolved into something artier, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but with a move from the US to Germany, and more purposeful overlying conceits on their music, the band has been – to my ears – trying to find a balance between complexity and accessibility. Giving themselves a thematic frame instead of a structural one is a good thought, and it definitely gives Demand much more urgency than their last release with Arthur Dreyblatt or Comradely Object’s loping nature, but: it’s difficult. Its peaks are subtle, with a pointed bass shifting to an open note; vocals becoming chirps becoming tones; and just in general, its intentions, even with a mission statement, feel very unclear.

This is, to date, the most “multi-media” sounding of all of Horse Lords, which is absolutely fascinating: the singing of the hymn (way manipulated, of course) that opens the album bridges into a typically atypical HL beat, which somewhat sets the stage for the way the group tries to push on bridging the gap between these different elements of singing, and electronics, and their usual syncopated style. The end of the song shifts suddenly, but not exactly… I dunno, satisfyingly. It’s not bad, though it feels more conceptual than something to serve the song – the fight between (maybe) messaging and music. It’s difficult.

From this opener (‘Brain Of The Firm’) we get several interstitials before ‘First Galactic Utopia’ rather oddly gets goofy (oddly because of the semi-serious tone of the album) with its krautrock clang and funky bleeps and bloops; these are all interesting, not quite landing that complexity / accessibility balance still, leaning towards one side or the other.

A pair of songs that surround the flip of the LP are where the money’s at: ‘After the Last Sky’ is kind of a classic HL, with its paced beats building until the tail end of the song fully opens up to actual emotions; and on the LPs B-side, ‘A City Yet to Come’ follows a similar approach, but with more of a digital / noise vibe.

‘Second Galactic Utopia’ feels like an attempt to chill us out – to make us not expect something epic from the album’s conclusion by decrypting the preceding layered tracks into a kind of goofy beat again. Indeed, the closing title track is mostly a round robin of repeated tones – taking the hymn and turning it into fully alien music. That this forms the ‘demand’ of the release’s name means… what, exactly? The band seeks a city yet to come; something still alludes them – and alludes me.

‘We Demand to be Taken to Heaven Alive!’ is an absolutely worthwhile addition to the Horse Lords catalog, and though difficult to digest, and to really find a consistent throughline – sonically or otherwise – it’s also exciting. Whatever the band is seeking, it feels like they’re getting a lot closer.