Album Review: High Horse

Marking their sixth album in six years, High Horse is the latest impressive release from Christchurch powerhouses Adam Hattaway and the Haunters. Unlike the boisterous rock and roll ventures which precede it, High Horse is an intimate, eerie project made with a small group of collaborators. Marlon Williams sits at the production helm creating a space he describes as “frustratingly quiet”. Indeed, it makes for a collection that thrives in its most uncomfortable moments.

This record portrays Hattaway as a rugged, moody archetype, on a journey to escape his pessimistic worldview. The scene is perfectly set by the opening single Good Times, which is of course all about the complete opposite of its title. Sarcastic and sneering, Hattaway plays the role of a manipulator who’s all too aware he’ll destroy your life. His guttural vocal explores new avenues for Hattaway, and the drums on this track are especially theatrical, always opting for new ideas for each section of the song and creating an unpredictable, highly dramatic atmosphere.

Guest vocals from Erny Belle litter many of the album’s highlights, from the title track’s sticky sweet falsettos to the borderline horrors of Mercy For The Weak. When Hattaway is up with the rocking riffs, she’s dancing with him. When he’s down on his luck as a “cautionary tale”, she’s up on the ledge at his side. This interplay adds layers of interest to the record. Much of the self-deprecating songwriting feels purposefully intertwined with elements of toxic masculinity. Belle’s guest appearances tease out the more relatable elements and provide a secondary figure for Hattaway’s character to bounce off of, as well as connect with.

At the midway point, If You Got Nowhere Else To Go bursts in as an obvious standout. It’s bright and quirky amongst the murkier other tracks. Cheerful guitars mix with light electronic effects and blur into a subtle flamenco feel, courtesy once more of Elmer Jones’ smooth touch on every song’s instrumental. Hattaway’s smoky voice carries the tune, as he welcomes someone into his home with an uncaring shrug that only veils a more genuine interest. 

But it’s the slower, sadder numbers that will stick with you the most from High Horse. Room To Breathe offers up earnest lyrics early on, emphasising raw storytelling on an emotional level about isolation and balance in relationships. It only gets more brutally honest with I Don’t Believe In Love, which begins with the gut wrenchingly simple opening line, “Why did I wake up/I don’t have nothing to do”. By this song’s end, utterly stacked vocal harmonies have created a heartbreaking cinematic ambience, 

reminiscent of country and folk music’s most skin crawlingly real moments like Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be Adam Hattaway without a good tongue-in-cheek tone shift, and the one-two punch of this song and Mercy For The Weak is immediately followed by My Screaming Machine, which cuts through demanding ”Get yourself together”. This song’s instrumentation is full and rich, with a nostalgic sound that makes the track feel as warm as the dawning summer sun. Its chorus is irresistible, thanks to the joyful melodies as well as the busy string elements beneath. 

With much of High Horse playing almost awkwardly close to the chest, Paranoid Kid switches things up and uses third person storytelling to great effect. It paints a picture of an out-of-sorts boy trying to make sense of the complicated world around him. He “wakes up screaming” but battles on the daily to live the mundane life of reading books and following the news, and Hattaway appears as mocking as he does genuinely sympathetic, with the dreamy “sha-la-la” refrain that echoes throughout the song.

Finally, Dark Places is the carefully chosen ending that feels like watching the movie credits role. “My conscience is clean, but it took me on a never-ending ride”, Hattaway muses, reflecting on the album’s narrative of falling off as low as you can go before any of it gets better. The dreamy instrumental outro fades calmly and beautifully, washing away the dirt and grime and leaving the listener with a fresh slate in the same way the lyrics depict. 

After so many releases in such a short span of time, it’s really no wonder Adam Hattaway and the Haunters have perfected the art of the album. High Horse is not only great folk-rock music, but great storytelling, and a clear endeavour into new sonic and lyrical worlds for this excellent Otautahi act.