Sugar Horse Announce New EP – Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico – Stream New Single
The ever-mercurial, boundary-pushing UK heavy quartet Sugar Horse will release their mesmeric new EP, Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, on 3rd November via Fat Dracula Records (distributed by Metal Blade Records in US). The EP follows the band’s titanic stage-headline set at ArcTanGent 2023.
An epic achievement, Truth… is, in signature Sugar Horse style, one single long song: a meditation and exploration of everything the note A has to offer.
To celebrate the news, the doomgaze group have released the first single from the record. The snippet is the second part of the longer song, appropriately entitled ‘II – Or’.
Pre-order and stream Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico here.
Sugar Horse comment, saying ‘II – Or’ is:
The second part of a single piece of music divided into six (easily streamable) chapters. A first little slice of heaviness that may well hint of what’s to come. It’s a kind of rallying cry to those who create and appreciate art of all kinds, reminding the listener of art’s power as both sword and shield in this difficult world we navigate and attempt to survive. ‘Or’ is a reassuring hand on the shoulder and whisper in the ear. Through adversity there is redemption.
Telling the story of Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, the band state:
It’s frequently been difficult for us, as a band, to limit ourselves to “normal” pop song lengths and structures….as evidenced in pretty much all of our releases to date. From time to time we feel the need to loose the ropes that bind us and let our Long & Tedious flag fly freely. Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico is the result of said untethering.
We’ve always found the idea of exploring a single note over long stretches of time interesting and this song is that idea taken to an extreme logical conclusion. It’s an exploration of the note A in all its possible variations.
Lyrically the song is an extravaganza of navel-gazing. There’s a cliché in the literary world nowadays of authors writing novels about the trials, tribulations and rewards of writing a novel. Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico is just as sickeningly self-referential, exploring the obsessive urge to create art of all kinds and how it turns into a cycle of imbibing real life experiences, then spitting them back out in whatever artistic discipline you happen to find yourself practicing. A kind of snake eating its own tail….but with the kind of self-pitying pretentiousness that only folks who think they’re very clever indeed (that’s us) would want to impose on themselves.
Sugar Horse will be touring with post-rock luminaries 65daysofstatic across Europe this September. Summer 2023 is already a significant year for the doomgaze pioneers, with the group also supporting Pianos Become The Teeth, Liturgy, Chat Pile and an appearance at ArcTanGent festival.
With 65daysofstatic:
Sep 21: FR Paris La Maroquinerie
Sep 22: BE Antwerp Trix
Sep 23: NL Amsterdam Paradiso
Sep 24: DE Hamburg Kunst
Sep 25: DE Berlin Hole 44
Oct 04: UK Bristol Fleece (with Pianos Become The Teeth)