Xylophone Ribcage

Horsey featuring King Krule “Seahorse”

Horsey have not released very much music but going on what they have put out in the past few years it’s safe to say that this collaboration with King Krule is far more like him than it is like them. Krule’s voice and aesthetic is so distinct that it’s like an overpowering ingredient in a dish – you have to adjust everything to suit his presence. In the case of “Seahorse” this means setting a mellow melancholic mood and getting out of his way as he does his usual move of muttered half-spoken lines that gradually build in intensity until it boils over into howling, distraught catharsis. The lyrics seem rooted in the particular claustrophobia, panic, and unrest of 2020 without announcing themselves as topical, favoring abstraction and the sort of raw emotion that doesn’t really need much context. Krule conveys a powerful feeling of disgust in the climax, utterly repulsed by police violence that seems unnecessary in the abstract, but central to the premise of their existence in the first place. But still, there’s a trace of optimism in here – a sense that in this bleak world he’s sketched out, life is still precious and worthwhile.

Buy it from Bandcamp.