Emotion and musical prowess synergy

Holly Miranda has been an active presence in music since the early 2000s, and Mutual Horse proves that she can create music that engages with current trends while still maintaining authenticity. Featuring excellent arrangement and production throughout, Miranda plays with a few instrumental styles throughout the album. However, the current that runs through the whole album is her stunning vocal performance and raw emotional lyrics.

“Wherever You Are” begins with gentle chimes and eventually explodes into an ecstatic jam. This is followed by “Golden Spiral,” a track with a grittier rock n’ roll swagger. Yet, on the third track, Miranda again veers into a slightly different direction, with a simple beat track that eventually builds into a pop-rock anthem that sounds like something from a Haim album. Even though there are diverse styles presented, there is a certain warmth to them all that makes it feel as though the whole album were created in a dusty barn.

“On The Radio” has a bluesy country feel and deep cutting lyrics about a strained relationship. The pure emotion of the song is felt strongest when Miranda lets the horns in and lets her voice go. The next track, “All of the Way,” is soul-stirring and melodic. After “Towers,” which is an interlude that sounds like the development of a demo track, Miranda collaborates with Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio on “Exquisite” and his influence is felt in its uptick of funk.

Miranda continues the outside influence on the next track, “Mr. Fong’s,” which features My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova. Miranda makes use of her features to add some diversity to the album. Later, she offers a beautiful rendition of Neil Young’s “When Your Lonely Heart Breaks” that fits neatly into the album despite being a cover. The penultimate track is dedicated to a rough home tape of a family singing a Christian praise song, a throwback to Miranda’s beginnings singing in church in her youth. She closes the album with “Mt. Hood”, which listens like a lullaby and gently lays the album to rest.

Mutual Horse succeeds in many ways. Thanks to its collaborative influences from Built to Spill’s Mathew Morgan, Jim Fairchild of Modest Mouse, My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova and Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio, many of the songs on the album have a certain familiarity. The instruments are skillfully layered in each song in such a way that feels exciting and warm when it could have been crowded. However, the album’s brightest star is Miranda and her stirring vocal performance.