Pale Horse Rider (studio album) by Cory Hanson

From Mercury 07/29/2021 21:43

(Excellent Indie folk and singer-songwriter album with a dreamy, wandering atmosphere with some psychedelic folk elements and a certain somber mystical vibe due in no small part to the distinctly alluring and beautiful vocals by Cory Hanson.)

Funny thing, this album and Lord Huron's 2021 album "Long Lost" share some musical elements, and they were both heard the same day by me and each time I went back and relistened to Long Lost I also felt a need to relisten to this Pale Horse Rider. They have almost a mirror image inversion in appreciation. Initially I felt Lord Huron's album superior in every way, but with subsequent listens its allure waned and waned. Whereas with this I have grown to appreciate it more and more.

I heard this album maybe 2 months ago and then liked it enough to put it toward the bottom of my 2021 chart and forgot about it. Then when I returned a couple days ago I was struck by how familiar almost all the songs and melodies and even some lyrical snippets were. After just one listen and 2 months away I had already somehow become almost unconsciously attached to the album. Not sure why that is or why it matters enough to mention, I just thought it strange.

Anyway, the album is a tight 39 minutes of somber indie folk with consistently haunted and sorrowful vocals that fully own the instrumentals and songs to the fullest. The sound of Cory's vocals consistently and mildly annoyingly reminded me of a vocalist of great music-nerd fame for a huge chunk of the album. I still don't know who this guy sounds like, I just know that multiple times while listening each of the 3 or 4 times I was like "Wait, who does he sound exactly like there? Thom Yorke? no, no, not quite... Neil Young? no, not close... damn it its gone!". In listening now I think it may very well be Thom Yorke, but anyway, enough about my internal questions. The point is his vocals are excellent. And they intertwine with the airy and haunting instrumentals beautifully.

The production is laid back in the background enough to not be super noticed but the production is low key excellent and warm and clear and I like it. The way the instruments and the mildly psychedelic and effected guitars and keyboards work together with the understated drumming and bass work and the way they take enough of a back seat to the heart of the sound - the vocals - while maintaining a great support role is cool.

Its the whole flow of the album and the whole atmosphere thereof that is most important to me on this album. But, that isn't to say there aren't some really killer individual tracks here, because of boy there are. Namely, tracks like "Angeles", "Pale Horse Rider", "Pigs", "Birds of Paradise" and the long, winding, feedbacky guitar solo-led "Another Story From the Center of the Earth" are each individually notable and excellent. When placed as they are into the album they work all the better as parts of this album whole.

Anyway, I personally really REALLY enjoy this indie folk, psych folk, americana, dreamy album. Maybe the best of its type this year that I have heard. Check it out if this sounds up your elley.