The latest Tobacco City release looks back on childhood memories and small-town life.
‘Horses’ is the sophomore long-player by Chicago’s Tobacco City. Chris Coleslaw and Lexi Goddard create a dreamscape of hazy childhood memories amid growing up in a dusty small town and longing to escape. Their intertwining voices take the languorous drawl of Son Volt’s Jay Farrar and combine it with Emmylou Harris’ keening heartbreak. Dense instrumental backing highlights classic country sounds of a mournful pedal steel and dark, dancing piano lines. Drums push the arrangements forward without calling attention to themselves, while strumming acoustic guitars provide a heavy, lush atmosphere.
The album has three reoccurring namesakes in the form of one-minute-long interludes, each conveying contrasting moods, all featuring ambient Coleslaw and Goddard harmonies. In a way, these sketches are signposts representing events that form the album’s arc. The first, a dreamy acoustic guitar drone (evoking fond past remembrances); the second, a frenzied banjo and harmonica rattle (feeling frustrated and trapped); and finally, the album ends with resigned, peaceful mandolin trills (finding acceptance and freedom). Escape is especially on the agenda in “Mr. Wine,” as pulsating bass notes reflect Coleslaw’s nervous energy as he impatiently waits for a traffic light to change, as if he must keep moving. With the arrival of the upbeat “Bye bye blues / Hello Mr. Wine” chorus, the brooding mood dissipates at the mention of another (temporary) mode of escaping rural life. In the loping acoustic tumble of “Autumn,” its protagonist hasn’t thought about leaving yet, as he recalls good, and not always so good, childhood occurrences. “Blue Déjà Vu” is a desolate waltz of endless nights of drinking and recalling lost love, and “Fruit from the Vine” is Goddard’s own delicate solo showcase.
‘Horses’ presents Tobacco City’s cinematic look back on the joys and disappointments of being raised in an insular American community. It is a nostalgic, sometimes painful journey, but a rewarding one.
