(Bella Union)Americana is a crowded field these days,but Texas-by-way-of-Oklahoma outfit Horse Thief did enough to stand out with their 2014 debut anxiety In Bliss. With singer Cameron Neils off-kilter yet heartfelt vocals, it brought hints of something wild-eyed and psych-tinged: think the big-sky balladeering of Band of Horses rubbing up against the freak-folk of early Animal Collective. It’s disappointing to report then, or that for their follow-up,Horse Thief have dialled down the strange in favour of a sound that’s more MORish. Trials and Truths finds the band aiming for the stadium territory of the likes of Kings of Leon. It is loaded with earnest, check-shirted songs approximately mountain towns and lost like. It’s tidily and tastefully attach together, and with all the trappings and affectations present and correct. But – a few highlights apart (the funky,stop-start Difference; the doleful soul of recent single Drowsy) – it feels leaden and predictable. At a time when artists such as William Tyler are driving Americana into fascinating and irregular territory, this is too timid by half.
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Source: theguardian.com