100 Watt Horse started in Atlanta as the solo project of George Pettis, although they have since expanded to include Anna Jeter and Graham Tavel and are now based between Georgia and Nashville and various other places too. They are set to put out their second EP, It May Very Well Do, this March, a 15-minute release that comes as a single track despite having clear ‘songs’ within it’s runtime (much like the Old Earth album we premièred a few weeks ago). As Pettis explains:
“This decision was not only an aesthetic but also a utilitarian one. The band was committed to the idea that the songs should remain in their original order and not heard out of context, much like the experience of listening to one side of a vinyl record”.
The release opens with wistful guitar and an ambient hiss, Jetter’s vocals entering with a swell of instrumentation to produce what nostalgia would sound like should it be transformed into vibrations of the air. From here, things get a little strange, distortion rippling through the track as it departs, as if falling through (or out of) a dream, leaving nothing but field recordings before the next ‘song’ starts. This segment is languid and hazy, a lazy tropical evening with a sky streaked pink, gradually darkening and growing electric, the pace and mood changing to one of intense energy with the same speed as turning a radio dial. This too fizzles out into field recordings and is followed by discordant piano which fades into further samples, this time a creaking of a boat or maybe some run-down children’s ride. From this emerges a more traditional sounding bedroom pop song, the sentiments as clear as any on the EP:
“You were the last thing on my mind
when I walked out the door for the very last time
And in all that I see
and in all that I write down
you are a part of my story now.”
After another sample (“Michael is here to talk about our second severe weather system”), a segment unfolds that sounds like a cross between Fleet Foxes and Frog and ends with another audio snippet (“I’m separated from my God. Baptised, baptised, baptised…”). From here develops the closing section, a wordless finger-picked ‘song’ where the vocals are nothing more than a communal “ooooh” which ends up being strangely infectious, a sing-along without lyrics. This quietens into silence, leaving an ambient buzz and stridulating crickets.
It might sound incongruous when written down but the EP flows with impressive fluidity, each disintegration seeming somehow important, each jump to samples or recordings or ‘songs’ following some logic which sits on the tip of your awareness, just out of reach but promising to click at any moment. The whole thing seems like a library of vaguely connected thoughts and experiences, like a meta-dream in which you turn on a TV to find footage of your past dreams on all the channels. Imagine sitting down on the sofa and picking up the remote and proceeding to flick through peculiar, gravid snippets that your brain has accumulated for your own investigations. The meaning of the images might be ambiguous or nebulous or odd, but they are all the more alluring for it.
It May Very Well Do will be released on the 25th March via Seagreen Records. Be sure to check out their previous releases on the 100 Watt Horse Bandcamp page. Also, the band are heading out on tour with WTD favs Oh, Rose in April, and you can check the dates below:
4/2 Nashville, GA @ Charlie Bob’s East Nashville
4/3 Atlanta, GA @ The Mammal Gallery
4/4 Athens, GA @ the rooftop of the Georgia Theatre
4/5 Birmingham, AL @ Desert Island Supply Co.
4/6 Pensacola, FL @ Sluggo’s
4/7 Tallahassee, FL @ HOUSE SHOW
4/8 Macon, GA @ Fresh Produce Records and The Hummingbird
4/11 Asheville, NC @ Static Age Records
4/12 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
4/13 Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
4/14 Baltimore, MD @ The Crown
4/15 DC @ TBA
4/16 Philly @ TBA
4/17 Saylorsburg, PA @ The Mune
4/18 Boston, MA @ TBA
4/20 Providence, RI @ AURORA
4/22 Hamden, CT @ The Space
4/23 @ BARD College
4/24 NYC @ CAKE SHOP NYC
Artwork by Zane Prater