Horse Lords

Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+HORSE LORDSHorse Lords return with Comradely Objects, an alloy of erudite influences andapproaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision.The bands fifth album doesnt document a new utopia, so much as limn a thrillingportrait of revolution underway.Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on theprevious four albums and four mixtapes by the quartet of Andrew Bernstein(saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), OwenGardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). But the albumrefocuses that sound, pulling the disparate strands of the bands restless musicalpurview tightly around propulsive, rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects ripples,drones, chugs, and soars with a new abandon and steely control.This transformation came, in part, due to circumstance. Sidelined from touring theirearly 2020 album The Common Task in a world turned upside down, Horse Lordspromptly returned to their Baltimore practice space and began piecing together themusic that became Comradely Objects (Bernstein, Eilbacher, and Gardner havesince relocated to Germany). Removed from their tried and true method of refiningnew music on the road, the quartet invested less energy ensuring live playabilityand more rehearsing and recording. The deliberate writing and tracking process, ararity since the bands earliest days, led to a collection of pieces that signal a newpeak of creativity and musical heft without devolving into studio sprawl or frippery.Comradely Objects reflects familiar elements of Horse Lords establishedpalettethe mantra-like repetition of minimalism and global traditional musics,complex counterpoint, the subtleties of microtonality, a breadth of timbres andtextures drawn from all across the avant-gardewith some standout stylisticinnovations. At different moments, the album veers closer to free jazz than anythingelse in the bands catalog, channels spectral electroacoustic tones, and throbs withunexpected yet felicitous synth. While these new elements are evidence ofadditional studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the dizzying obsessiverhythmic energy that galvanizes the best moments of the band.Its vital that the Horse Lords instrumentals speak for themselves, and for thequartets shared musical and sociopolitical vision. The title derives from Imagine NoPossessions, art historian Christina Kaiers 2008 book on Russian Constructivistdesign. Constructivists shunned the artistic egoism and precious artifacts ofcapitalist art in favor of utilitarian objects for the masses. The comradely objectshould promote collective, egalitarian ideals, the band notes. They tended towardsimple, unadorned forms that emphasized utility and foregrounded the material.Comradely Objects works through what this means for the material of sound, formusic, for the album, and for artistic production in the 21st century.