Bell Horses - This Loves Last Time

Bell Horses is a left-field pop outing from Xian Hawkins & Jenny Owen Youngs. The 8 songs that comprise their debut album work together to create a world of contrasts  both challenging & familiar. Arrangements blend acoustic instruments (guitars, strings, piano, percussion) with synthetic textures and samples while vocals sit up front in the mix, often doubling as instruments themselves. A subtle attention to detail reveals more with each listen. This Loves Last Time is about the infinite and the finite – things that cease to be but linger all the same. The name Bell Horses is taken from a turn of the century song about horses passing in the night, strung with bells so as not to collide. An apt analogy for the working methods of this group whose members all live in different cities. Various  parts of the album were tracked in Brooklyn, Berlin & London with the majority of the music being recorded, arranged & mixed by Xian Hawkins in a converted Victorian Church in Western Massachusetts. This Loves Last Time succeeds as it becomes more than the sum of the individuals involved – all of whom have projects of their own. Xian Hawkins records as Sybarite - making distinct & lauded electronica for a variety of labels, most notably 4AD, Temporary Residence & Ghostly  International. His music has been featured in film &  television. Jenny Owen Youngs is a singer songwriter who signed to Nettwerk Records in 2006 and recently released her sophomore record, Transistor Failure, to critical acclaim. Also on the album is Alexander Ericson (Alberta Cross, Stjarna) ontributing vocals  to three of the tracks - along with Michael Lerner, drummer for NYC band The Antlers (Frenchkiss), & classical string player Eve Boltax.

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