Held By Horses
Garry from SAN PR recently sent us through details of In History, the new EP from Essex based, female fronted, Held By Horses. Drawing influence from the likes of Deaf Havana and Lower Than Atlantis, the band are hitting the UK with a sound merging sweeping vocals, hearty riffs and elephantine choruses – which sounds pretty good to me! Having already achieved supporting slots with the likes of Mystery Jets, Johnny Get The Gun and Our People Versus Yours, the band seem intent on taking over the UK with their sound, so I figured the least we could do would be to check them out!
Opening with You Win Some, You Lose Some, the EP gets off to dramatic start from the off, throwing us straight into a melee of hammering riffs, pounding drums and melodic textures, all forming together to craft an anthemic sound. Ushering in the female vocals there’s an extra sense of calm added to things, turning the sound into something which encourages you to listen and take in what’s going on, allowing you the time to feel the power of the band and fully immerse yourself in their rhythmic stylings. Catchy throughout, what we’ve got here is a track which is going to satisfy the heavy urge and the melodic urge within the listener, offering a balance of both to keep you wanting more and more. Little Water continues this approach, once again throwing us straight into the track to get things going and moving. Sounding more upbeat and powerful from the off, this is a track which is going to realise its full potential on the live scene, offering an insight into what we can expect when we get out to see them on the stage.
Moving on to The Last Word (ft Renz Blyne) there’s another shift in the outlook of the band, changing the sound once again into one which is more reflective and deep than it is heavy, showing once again that this is a band who understand their music and how to form their songs to maximum impact. Still managing to incorporate the catchiness into the power of the track, I love the outlook of this track as it somehow transports you to a new place and makes you believe you’re capable of achieving anything you wish – it’s rare that a track can have that effect yet these guys have pulled it off with aplomb. Down And Out holds a similar outlook to things, only this time using the acoustic spectrum of their music to get their message home and calm you down. The soft opening moments of this track are the sort of thing which is going to get you sitting down and thinking about life, before you’re transported to a more upbeat and exciting place by the more up tempo stylings which greet us next. Contrasting themselves within the track, the combination of hard and soft work to keep you listening and take this track to a new level, somehow turning what should be a relatively simple track into something which is more advanced and clever.
Closing the EP with Virtues there’s one final insight into the different abilities of the band, offering up another more upbeat track which is going to be fully realised on the live scene. Powerful and upbeat throughout, the final track on this EP stands out as one of my personal favourites and really sets the band up for a follow up, leaving you with the hope that the band stick to their style and what they’re good at – as simply, this EP is going to be a hard act to follow.
I like the approach of Held By Horses as they’re not trying to be something they’re not, instead crafting a sound which works for them and shows that they understand what it is they’re doing. Whilst powerful at times, there’s a constant sense of reflection and calm melody running through the music, forming something which is both upbeat and calming, meaning what you end up with is an EP which is both intriguing and exciting at the same time. Definitely a band I want to hear more of!
To find out more about Held By Horses, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening with You Win Some, You Lose Some, the EP gets off to dramatic start from the off, throwing us straight into a melee of hammering riffs, pounding drums and melodic textures, all forming together to craft an anthemic sound. Ushering in the female vocals there’s an extra sense of calm added to things, turning the sound into something which encourages you to listen and take in what’s going on, allowing you the time to feel the power of the band and fully immerse yourself in their rhythmic stylings. Catchy throughout, what we’ve got here is a track which is going to satisfy the heavy urge and the melodic urge within the listener, offering a balance of both to keep you wanting more and more. Little Water continues this approach, once again throwing us straight into the track to get things going and moving. Sounding more upbeat and powerful from the off, this is a track which is going to realise its full potential on the live scene, offering an insight into what we can expect when we get out to see them on the stage.
Moving on to The Last Word (ft Renz Blyne) there’s another shift in the outlook of the band, changing the sound once again into one which is more reflective and deep than it is heavy, showing once again that this is a band who understand their music and how to form their songs to maximum impact. Still managing to incorporate the catchiness into the power of the track, I love the outlook of this track as it somehow transports you to a new place and makes you believe you’re capable of achieving anything you wish – it’s rare that a track can have that effect yet these guys have pulled it off with aplomb. Down And Out holds a similar outlook to things, only this time using the acoustic spectrum of their music to get their message home and calm you down. The soft opening moments of this track are the sort of thing which is going to get you sitting down and thinking about life, before you’re transported to a more upbeat and exciting place by the more up tempo stylings which greet us next. Contrasting themselves within the track, the combination of hard and soft work to keep you listening and take this track to a new level, somehow turning what should be a relatively simple track into something which is more advanced and clever.
Closing the EP with Virtues there’s one final insight into the different abilities of the band, offering up another more upbeat track which is going to be fully realised on the live scene. Powerful and upbeat throughout, the final track on this EP stands out as one of my personal favourites and really sets the band up for a follow up, leaving you with the hope that the band stick to their style and what they’re good at – as simply, this EP is going to be a hard act to follow.
I like the approach of Held By Horses as they’re not trying to be something they’re not, instead crafting a sound which works for them and shows that they understand what it is they’re doing. Whilst powerful at times, there’s a constant sense of reflection and calm melody running through the music, forming something which is both upbeat and calming, meaning what you end up with is an EP which is both intriguing and exciting at the same time. Definitely a band I want to hear more of!
To find out more about Held By Horses, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls