A Thousand Horses Have Stopped Chasing Nation Radio Hits

When A Thousand Horses have been touring behind their 2015 Quantity One nation single “Smoke,” the band introduced alongside a drummer, a keyboardist, and three feminine backup singers to each present, one way or the other managing to squeeze 9 folks onstage. On the time, Rolling Stone likened them to a rustic Lynyrd Skynyrd, nevertheless it’s a a lot completely different and leaner Horses that launched the brand new album The Exterior final week.

Their take care of a Nashville main label is historic historical past, the backup singers are lengthy gone, and, most notably, unique guitarist Zach Brown exited the group final yr to be nearer to household, leaving singer Michael Passion, guitarist Invoice Satcher, and bassist Graham DeLoach to trip on. You possibly can say the band is just a few horses shy of their title.

However there’s nothing missing on The Exterior, a sturdy, melodic country-rock document that reveals what’s doable when a band is courageous sufficient to make music not from the POV of the place they have been, however the place they’re now: on the surface trying in. Over 11 tracks, A Thousand Horses write and sing about letting go, perseverance, and heartbreak in a susceptible manner that always escaped the group once they have been chasing nation radio hits.

Which isn’t to say none exist right here. Produced by Jon Randall, who’s overseen albums by equally gritty artists like Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, The Exterior, launched on the band’s personal Freeway Sound Information, has just a few tunes that might match properly on a “cool nation” playlist.

“Roll On” is a plea for a lover to ghost their present relationship and begin recent like “we all the time talked about.” Satcher’s slide enjoying is very emotive right here, matching the hope in Passion’s voice that he simply may — lastly — reunite with the one which received away. Maybe it’s the identical woman he pines for in “Summer time,” a hooky “na-na-na” singalong that flips the title to be a few title and, fortunately, not concerning the season.

“Goin’ Down,” in the meantime, is an easygoing occasion ballad within the vein of Zac Brown Band, with lyrics about whiskey, hangouts within the woods, and shout-outs to strong nation gold on the audio system. It’s a bit of skinny, however Passion succeeds in promoting the nostalgia. The frontman is singing extra naturally than ever, in stark distinction to the compressed whine he generally used circa “Smoke.”

However two songs specifically embody this newest chapter of A Thousand Horses. “Room Filled with Strangers,” a ingesting track written by Passion and Chris Stapleton, suggests the darkish days of the band, when the longer term was unsure they usually had few of their nook. “That’s how you discover out/you’re actually alone,” Passion sings, “when a room stuffed with strangers/begins feeling like residence.”

The title observe has shades of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers heartland rock, and captures the group at their most confident and defiant. “I’m carried out holding it between the traces/ain’t making an attempt to be something I ain’t,” goes the refrain. It’s their very own “I Gained’t Again Down” declaration.