Mercury Rev: Born Horses – Review

Nine years since their last album proper The Light In You, the legendary cinematic pysch masters Mercury Rev unleash their Born Horses and it’s up there with the classic Deserters Songs reckons Wayne AF Carey…

Spiritually, literally, psycho-geographically: where else does Mercury Rev’s ninth album Born Horses spring from? This cascade of gleaming, glistening psych-jazz-folk-baroque-ambient quest that searches its soul but can never truly know the answer? A sound and vision begun with skeletal chords and surges of self-reflection, alive to the notions and motions of time and reality somehow both linked to their exalted past whilst quite unlike anything they have created before?’’

Grasshopper: “When Jonathan and I first met, one thing we bonded over was Blade Runner, both Ridley Scott’s film and Vangelis’ soundtrack: that feel of the past and the future, the haunting noir mood and the romance of the future…Born Horses taps into some of that. Looking back to childhood, to Broadway tunes, to lonesome blues, Chet Baker, Miles Davis’ Sketches Of Spain, records that our parents listened to, but we put a twist into the future. From the beginning, Mercury Rev were on a cusp, between analogue and digital, hi-fi and lo-fi at the same time. It was like Brecht or Weill, the words suggesting visuals, and the visuals suggesting moods. We also thought a lot about the desert on this record, and the urban desert.”

 The album title, named after the majestically rippling sixth track ‘Born Horses’, was chosen because its words resonate through the entire record, encompassing the idea of flight (“I dreamed we were born horses waiting for wings”) and the phrase “You and I” that appears at different junctures on the album. This is not the concept of two separate people, but two parts of oneself.

Jonathan Donahue: “When I opened my voice to sing on this record, this was the bird that sang: a lower, whiskery voice, which surprised me as much as it may others. I don’t know where the bird came from, but it’s there now, and I don’t question it. It’s just the bird that wants to sing.”

Mercury Rev have always thrown curveballs throughout their career, from the oddball antics of Yerself Is Steam and Boces to the grandeur of Deserters Songs with tunes that still make you weep, then the majestic Snowflake Midnight, All Is Dream and The Secret Migration which oozed with ambition. Born Horses does it again, with Grasshopper in full experimental mode and Jonathan Donohue focusing more on spoken word with this release.

Opening track Mood Swings is dark jazz film noir, floating along a neat sax line with gentle drums, eery bass and a weird violin teasing the music alongside Donahue’s script. Ancient Love floats in with a tale of history backed by dreamlike soundscapes of beautiful piano that melts you with heart lifting keys from Marion Genser, backed by sensitive drums and soothing spoken word. Your Hammer My Heart drifts along with a great slow bassline and shimmering keys that hark back to All Is Dream. Donahue just excels with those honey soaked vocals, letting the sounds float in the background with cinematic quality. It’s amazing stuff that stands out as true Mercury Rev who’ve always had their own sound, only similar to their mates The Flaming Lips.

Patterns is another psych beauty that namechecks Ian Curtis and Jackson Pollock. It’s a grand piece of uplifting music that soothes the ears and takes you into a dreamlike state. This is definitely not for the dancefloor, more a mug of Horlicks and some hallucinogenics. A Bird Of No Address is pure classic Rev, with Donahue taking us back to the beauty of Deserters Songs. He whispers “Hail Mary full of grace, I get the feeling I can’t be saved, would you come down to take my place” Stunning stuff that hits the heartstrings only the Rev can manage. Title track Born Horses is another beautiful tune rich with sound and majestic pianos from Jesse Chandler, drifting along with more sax and mellow drums, backed by an eerie psych sound that gives you the image of floating on water at sunset in a tiny boat.

Everything I Thought I Had Lost again pulls you into a dreamlike state with ease as Donahue uses his spoken word against a background of rich film soundtrack noir tapping into the senses with a crescending drumbeat quietly crashing around the myriad sounds of keys, trumpets and smooth bass that fills your ears with joy. Closing track There’s Always Been A Bird In Me surprisingly ups the tempo with a great Floyd-esque bassline tapping into the drumbeat with Donahue half whispering his great spoken word like the great vocalist he’s been for all these years. It wakes you up from the lovely dream that’s past and gives Public Service Broadcasting a run for their money. An epic ending to another great album from Catskill Mountains greatest group.

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Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here