Horse Stories – November, November

From the first note of Horse Stories’ latest album, November, November, one feels that they are entering a well-arranged empty playhouse. The chairs are properly placed at the table, there is not a speck of dust on the glistening hard wood floor, and the pretend tea party is delicately laid out with careful hands. Toby Burke’s newest batch of songs is painstakingly attended to with pristine production. Each note on each instrument has been precisely polished to adhere to the album’s vision. It comes as no surprise to learn that Burke spent the better part of two years tailoring the songs that make his fourth LP in a Los Angeles basement.

Burke’s music puts a latent great hope in the future. The songs are understatedly uplifting and promising. Through a playful exploration of an inescapable somberness a feeling of optimism is achieved. The wayward and melancholy subject matter repeatedly gives way to peaceful resignation. The music is never forceful, but instead opts for a laid back patience. On “Hole In The Head” Burke teeters on the brink of breaking down from a lost love as the urgency grows in the song’s catchy refrain, “I need it.” The singer eventually finds peace in the repeated phrase, and as the music backs down he quietly says, “Like a hole in the head.”

The instrumentation on November, November is illusively effective. The instruments are carefully selected and sparingly used to create blue-tinged illustrations. This gift for visual song writing is perhaps taken from Burke’s side project, Perfect Black Swan (also the name of his record label), and it involves collaboration with a photographer (Warwick Baker). On “Rockinghorse,” low piano notes play with a toy-sounding glockenspiel to create the effect of a slow-motion rocking horse that ticks away the arduous seconds that fill the protracted day. As Burke sings, “The days go back and forth/ Like an old old rocking horse,” one is given the image of a neglected childhood toy that enduringly waits for use once more.

On “Telephone Message,” a simple two-minute song in which a cello and piano delicately back a simple electric guitar part as Burke eloquently explores the empty space of a lost love saying, “You’ve got a lot of weight/ For someone out of state.”

November, November’s strength of production, however, cannot bolster weaker tracks such as “To The Light,” a song that’s message is not backed by conviction. Burke’s unflinchingly whispered and sweet lyrics fail to give the song the convincing backbone that it needs. Stylistically, the album excels in the escapist songs that mirror it’s sound. When subject matter strays from this solemn path the songs seem forced. Tracks such as these are not glaringly apparent on the album, but instead float by in unmemorable dreams. It seems that Burke excels when he is turned inward consulting his melancholy muse.

The greatest strength of November, November is its cohesiveness. The obsessive attention to detail makes the songs blend together into a timid tapestry. It plays like a sleepy ride through the countryside – the songs of unrequited and lost love, and a slow and careful search roll by like obscure hills seen through tired eyes.

Related posts:

1. Horse Feathers
2. Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Beware
3. Peasant-The Wind
4. Nathan Xander – The Fear

Tagged as: Folk, indie pop, Los Angeles

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