Toy Horses: Toy Horses
The Internet has had a major impact on the music industry from all angles, but in the case of Welsh duo Toy Horses, their viral success has led to the release of their first, self-titled album.
As you are drawn in by the first track, Play What You Want, you begin to imagine Toy Horses as the lovechild of Madness and The Hoosiers, but it’s only until you get part way through the album you start to uncover a distinct indie-style of their own.
Sordid Little World is a particular favourite of mine due to the carefully crafted layers of guitar and vocals that were clearly destined to be placed together. Despite the nature of the lyrics being somewhat downcast, the backing music gently encourages you to look forward to driving to this song in the summer.
A number of the tracks do slip by unnoticed upon first play, but in the interest of fairness I played the album through again and immediately began to find more that I liked in the form of No One’s Ever Gonna Leave You and Love At Arm’s Length.
The duo have done really well to remind you of other successful artists like Arcade Fire, James Blunt and The Coral, without compromising their own style and identity.
Word on the street is that Toy Horses have been approached to write material for some of the world’s biggest selling artists, including Jason Derulo and Sean Kingston. Not only is R’n'B a strange direction for an Indie band to head in, but it is also incredible to think the opportunity came from posting a few demos on their MySpace page.
If you’re interested in hearing something new and different in a worthwhile way, Toy Horses is out 11 April.
Really like this band!