HORSEBATH - ANOTHER FAREWELL

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

February 11, 2025

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

For their debut, Halifax's HORSEBATH delivers the kitchen sink. The members of the quartet (Keast Mutter, Daniel Connolly, Etienne Beausoleil, Dagen Mutter) jump from one instrument to another, with three vocalists and four songwriters. Another Farewell (Strolling Bones, Feb 7) is undeniably eclectic as a result, but more cohesive in sound and in message than such an approach might suggest. It's not wrong to place an alt.country label on the collection, which ranges from breezy GospelbeacH-style California country to TexMex and moments of early rock. 

Doug Sahm comes to mind on "Hard To Love", with bar band boogie piano and shout-along vocal harmonies. The opener also establishes one pervasive theme of Another Farewell - lovin' and leavin': It's a lonely world I've come to learn / When all that loves will surely burn / Heaven knows I've had to pay the price. HORSEBATH's ten songs portray the band touring across Canada's vast expanses, never settling long enough to establish a lasting relationship. With Chet Atkins-inspired guitar picking and a playful ragtime ramble, "Only In My Dreams" suggests such a fly-by-night approach might have its advantages: Darlin' oh don't you / Wake me up, I want to keep her / Prayin' to the lord I'm a heavy sleeper. The song shares a general throwback vibe with its companions, never so much surrendering as much as borrowing here an there from sounds gone by.

At the album's halfway point, Another Farewell takes a definite turn towards a more contemporary arrangement. The title track is a strummy acoustic number, a 70s country-rock cut that features forlorn harmonica and a rising chorus. "Long & Lonesome" pairs a lyrical bassline with layers of twang until a bluesy organ reroutes the song: When they steal your freedom's when your heart starts to fray. The loose and lively "Train To Babylon" warns This train ain't bound for glory. HORSEBATH's singers overlap their vocals and ride a propulsive rhythm into an extended instrumental jam. 

These moments of relative abandon carry a good amount of the record's appeal, allowing the band to showcase their strength as creative instrumentalists. "In the Shade" evolves from a stylized Lee Hazelwood vibe into a bit of a jazzy workout. With its instrumental guitar intro, "Never Be Another You" shares the spirit of the Sadies or Calexico. Another Farewell bids farewell with "Turn My Lover Loose", with Augie Meyers keys and unbottled energy. 

HORSEBATH picks through the past for inspiration, but they demonstrate real originality in gathering and delivering these pieces. In the end the success of the band's debut full-length is all their own. Even when we can't always pin the voice or the instrument to one specific name, Another Farewell introduces an outfit with personality and perspective, a sound we're curious to follow into future projects, across the Canadian plains and beyond. 

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