Comradely Objects

Description

Horse Lords returns with Comradely Objects, an alloy of influences and scholarly approaches to which the Baltimore group gives a frenzied gravity in pursuit of a unified musical and political vision. Their fifth album does not document a new utopia, but rather paints an exciting portrait of the ongoing revolution. Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on the quartet's four previous albums and four mixtapes, featuring Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). However, the album refocuses this sound, tightening the disparate threads of the group's restless musical vision around propulsive rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects undulates, buzzes, stirs, and soars with a new abandon and flawless control. The album reflects the familiar elements of Horse Lords' established palette—the repetition of minimalism mantras and global traditional music, complex counterpoint, microtonal subtleties, a wide range of timbres and textures drawn from the avant-garde—while introducing some remarkable stylistic innovations. At times, the album leans closer to free jazz than any other album by the group. It channels spectral electroacoustic sounds and comes alive with unexpected yet joyful synths. If these new elements are evidence of extra studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the obsessive, dizzying rhythmic energy that galvanizes the group's best moments. For fans of Mdou Moctar, This Heat!, Battles, Ndagga Rhythm Force, Can, Captain Beefheart, Art Ensemble of Chicago, LaMonte Young.