Mirage Rock
Band of Horses’ sentimental songs may inspire you to run barefoot through grassy fields. Vocalist Ben Bridwell has been the sole continuous member since the group’s 2004 inception. However, each Horse earned songwriting credit on 2010’s GRAMMY®-nominated *Infinite Arms*, as they banded together to produce the majority of the album themselves. The result was a bucolic slice of Americana filled with folksy harmonies, rootsy country sounds, and alt-rock embellishments—a vibe that’s echoed on “Knock Knock,” the lead single from Band of Horses’ fourth studio album, *Mirage Rock*.
Band of Horses' fourth album moves further into the realm of radio-conscious pop staked out by its 2010 predecessor, Infinite Arms. Befitting its name, Mirage Rock is so lightweight and inconsequential that it truly does seem more like an illusion than a record.
On Band Of Horses’ first album, the band seemed like the inheritor of certain qualities of the coastal South—humid, decaying, and full of Spanish moss and rusty beer cans that turn up in the surf. On Mirage Rock, though, the South Carolina quintet takes a page out of The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street playbook…
Band of Horses take a turn towards the low-key and produce their most elegant sounding album yet.
"A ramshackle crew has something to prove," sings shaggy-haired, big-hearted rock master Ben Bridwell at the outset of his…
After key Band of Horses influence Neil Young experienced his commercial peak with Harvest -- the 1972 country rock cornerstone -- he famously reflected that it had put him in the middle of the road and that he soon “headed for the ditch.”
Since relocating from Seattle to the American Midwest to record 2007’s joyous Cease to Begin, Band of Horses' song craft has come to reflect the sextet’s geographical and social shift, with a more subdued countrified lilt taking hold. Their fourth LP develops this idea to the point that, at times, they sound plain horizontal.
At this point in Band of Horses' story arc, Ben Bridwell is the sole remaining member from the days of their debut Everything All the Time, and one of only two holdovers from their breakthrough Cease to Begin.
Even when Ben Bridwell threatens to get a little too AAA and formal, Mirage Rock is never less than pleasant.
Band of Horses up their game and sharpen their edges yet further with this focused and determined album, writes <strong>Michael Hann</strong>