Early last year, this Aussie duo captured my heart with the beauty of the collection of intensely personal songs from their full-length debut, Rearrange Beds. (Read my 2009 interview with the band here.) Tonight, May 7, they’ll be performing with their equally talented friend, Kaki King, at the High Noon Saloon. I’m absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to see them play again, and I hope other Madison music lovers will turn out to welcome them.
For me, the songs of An Horse are those of perseverance, rebirth, and, ultimately, triumph. When the pixie-ish Kate Cooper sings “Like that good Hole album, I can live through this / I can live through worse,” in “Camp Out” she is absolutely fearless. “But you need to know I’d do this all again / Just to get where I am,” she adds. Her songs are littered with great lines like these—lines you wish you had the brains to say when life is just too crazy to make any sense.
She’s a tough cookie for sure, but also reassuringly vulnerable. Take “Company,” for instance:
And all my broken hearts
And all my forgettable false starts
Well you can have them right now
But you better not look away
You can have ‘em right now but you better not look away
This me trying to be brave
Even as a fan for well over a year now, I’m still blown away by the power of Kate’s poetic, yet down-to-earth style. This is the kind of music that makes a person weak in the knees.
An Horse will hit the stage around 9:30 pm this evening (tickets available here). Get ready to meet your new favorite band.
-Shelley Peckham
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Filed under: Indie, Music Shows This Week in Madison, Singer-Songwriter, Sounding Board Blog Tagged: | An Horse, High Noon Saloon, Kaki King
