Born Horses Mercury Rev

In upstate New York, deep within the seam between the Catskills Mountains and the Hudson Valley, a richly swelling and spellbound sound emerges, eddying and flowing like the local Esopus Creek or the grander Hudson River. This sound carries the flotsam and jetsam of our hopes, dreams, and fears.

Composed of both organic and electronic elements—guitars, keys, brass, strings, woodwind, drums—and a voice of incantations, Born Horses taps into streams of consciousness that similarly eddy and flow.

Spiritually, literally, and psycho-geographically: where else could Born Horses, Mercury Rev’s ninth album, emerge from? This cascade of gleaming, glistening psych-jazz-folk-baroque-ambient sound embarks on a quest to search its soul, even though the answers may never be fully known. The album draws on the band’s exalted past while creating something wholly new.

The album springs from the homes of founding members Jonathan Donahue (in the hamlet of Mt. Tremper) and Grasshopper (in the town of Kingston), drawing from their vast musical cosmology. It features the vital presence of new permanent member Marion Genser (keys), long-time ally Jesse Chandler (keys), and contributions from Jeff Lipstein (drums), Martin Keith (double bass), and Jim Burgess (trumpet).

Born Horses builds on the levitating mood of their last album, 2019’s expansive tribute, Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited, as well as their instrumental psych explorations under the names Harmony Rockets and Mercury Rev's Clear Light Ensemble. The album also draws inspiration from avant-garde artist Tony Conrad and Beat poet Robert Creeley, to whom the album is dedicated.

The record began with skeletal chords and a surge of self-reflection, inviting listeners into a world where we are vulnerable and alive to the notions and motions of time and reality.