At the outset of Mercury Revs wild and winding journey, fans could count on the band to deliver musical experiences unlike anything theyd heard before. From Yerself Is Steams distortion-soaked bliss to Boces technicolor anthems to See You on the Other Sides subtler psych-pop to Deserters Songs rootsier sounds, Mercury Rev reinvented their music continually while remaining true to themselves. On Born Horses, they still have that power. Free jazz, torchy ballads, and show tunes have all been a part of the Mercury Rev brew since the beginning, but on their first new music since 2015s The Light in You, theyre the main ingredients. This time, the band deploys them with a maturity and control that only heightens the albums fusion of experimental sounds and genuine emotion. Likewise, Jonathan Donahue adopts a whispery, largely spoken-word delivery rather than his familiar wavering croon. Initially, it sounds jarring, but it soon proves vital to the albums success. His deft, light touch makes his words dance, uncovering the poetry in his memories and musings (beat poet Robert Creeley, who taught at State University of New York at Buffalo, where the band formed, was a major influence on the album). It all comes together in a swirl of transcendent sounds, brilliant imagery, and deep feeling on songs such as the breathtaking opener "Mood Swings," where Donahue ponders his unknowable mind, gliding from thought to thought like a trapeze artist over a deconstructed noir dreamscape of smoky trumpets and bustling drums. "Your Hammer, My Heart" is another stunner, turning heartache into a thing of surreal beauty that rivals "Everlasting Arm" for sheer Mercury Rev magic. Donahues low-key vocals are the perfect foil to the sweeping instrumentation of "Ancient Love"s fusion of new age and psychedelia, a blend the band gives a kaleidoscopic sparkle on the wonder-filled "Patterns." Perhaps more than previous Mercury Rev albums, Born Horses eloquently captures the valleys that accompany emotional peaks. The poignancy that shades the title tracks fantasies also echoes in "Theres Always Been a Bird in Me," which closes the album with a feeling of hope and acceptance that borders on heroic. "Everything I Thought That I Had Lost" might be most affecting of all, a dense, spiraling remembrance of the people and places lost to the years that shaped these songs. More grounded and yet more transporting than many of their later albums, Born Horses is ample proof that Mercury Rev are still making moving, thoughtful, exciting music -- and like most of their best albums, theres nothing else quite like it. ~ Heather Phares
Rovi