Brown Horse: Reservoir. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The enigmatic and the melancholic flirt well with each other, but often the result is a marriage of convenience, both sides overwhelmed by the insecurities of the other, the commitment shown to the attitude often becomes overwhelming, dramatic, full of tension; and when the inevitable release comes, the feeling of being immersed in water way above your head can be panic inducing.

Not so with the collaborative event that comes through in the debut release by Brown Horse, the titillating and honestly pursued, Reservoir.

Brown Horse may have astounded the people behind the process by recording the album in just four days, but the temptation and the emotion framed within that time span should not be discounted or considered condensed through manacles of lack of ambition; indeed, such is the scope of the music provided by the entire team that what announces itself is assuredness of spirit and conviction of enlargement, of being a big sound effortlessly born from humble folk beginnings.

Emma Tovell, Nyle Holihan, Patrick Turner and Rowan Braham may have started the process, but the natural expansion brought about by the addition of Ben Auld and finally Phoebe Troup to the fold is a masterstroke of illumination and persuasion. By placing trust in the melancholic and the sheer presence of everyone’s enigmatic performance, Reservoir becomes a place of the depth meeting the abundant and clear. There is no holding back, no dam acting as a shield, it is just force that gives the music its ability to withstand nature.

Across tracks such as Stealing Horses, Paul Gilley, Everlasting, Silver Bullet, and Bloodstain, those humble beginnings and virtues are exquisitely revealed and whilst the drama of the big noise may be the driving factor, what finds its way to the surface is the first drops of inspired water collected and then enhanced to give a degree of even greater taste and flavour to an already dynamic occasion.

A wonderful debut, to hear more from Brown Horse is a pool of expectation that the listener will crave.

Brown Horse release Reservoir on January 19th.

Ian D. Hall