:: Horse Stories - One Hundred Waves

Horse Stories

This is the second album from Melbourne-born, Los Angles-based, Toby Burke. His LA-based band Horse Stories is simply magnificent. A follow up to their first release Travelling Mercies (For Troubled Paths), One Hundred Waves is an emotional journey, made beautiful by Burke’s experienced rasp and music that hangs in the air just waiting to be grabbed. The tracks on One Hundred Waves come across effortlessly, as though Burke has always had them in him; the album the perfect conductor between his mind and his music. As an ensemble Horse Stories are highly seductive, skilfully creating that which all musicians aspire to, ‘a moment’. A place in which the artist and listener connect, not necessarily due to understanding, but merely an appreciation of the craft and their personal relation to it. Obviously the music has a great deal to do with this experience, and Horse Stories do not disappoint here. Their delicate lo-fi arrangements are outstanding. There is something about the sound of pedal steel and harmonicas that fill the soul with a sense of comfort and well being. One Hundred Waves is an intimate experience. It is neither predictable nor pretentious, a quality to be cherished and enjoyed whenever possible. Overall a truly rare and special find.