Fans of Rainmaker, the 2015 LP by New Zealanders Spook the Horses will immediately notice one thing about their 2017 follow-up, People Used to Live Here. Gone is the earth-rattling heaviness of Rainmaker, replaced by turned-down, pensive songs on People Used to Live Here.
On new song “Crude Shrines,” rumbling bass is met by sad guitar melodies and restrained percussion paired with a mysterious video. The atmosphere is ultimately similar to that of Spook the Horses’ previous releases, despite its quieter nature.
Of the entire album, Spook the Horses multi-instrumentalist Callum Gay said, “We deliberately isolated ourselves when writing this album to force us out of our comfort zones. Most of the songs began as completely improvised pieces that we slowly fleshed and developed over time. We wanted to make sure that immediacy was captured and conveyed in a way we’d never done before. There’s much less between us and the listener this time around.”
People Used to Live Here will be released on November 10 on Pelagic.
