When talking or writing about Baltimore math-rock quartet Horse Lords in 2026, it seems inevitable to refer to the Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine, who’ve edged quirky time signatures and microtonal scales into the mainstream, thanks to their multiple viral moments and absurdist costumes. Most people would agree that this is a good thing, as their relatively unusual musical style will hopefully inspire fans to check out artists like Horse Lords, who have been doing this sort of thing for a while (minus the costumes). Smack dab in the middle of what appears to be an experimental/progressive mini-revival, Horse Lords have released their latest album, proving to the world that they’re still at it, better than ever.
The group, consisting of Andrew Bernstein on saxophone, percussion, and electronics; Max Eilbacher on bass and electronics; Owen Gardner on guitar and electronics; and Sam Haberman on drums, created Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! semi-remotely, as Gardner, Eilbacher and Bernstein have lived in Berlin for the past five years and Haberman assembled his drum parts in Baltimore. The addition of Madison Greenstone on bass clarinet and Weston Olencki on trombone adds a new dimension to their tried and tested sound, as does the addition of vocals (a Horse Lords first) courtesy of Nina Guo and Evelyn Saylor.
Guo and Saylor are placed front and center at the very beginning of Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!, as “Eureka 378-B” opens the album in a mostly a cappella fashion – the track is an arrangement of 19th century sacred harp music, with their ethereal voices occasionally punctuated by brief horn blasts before the entire band kicks in on “Brain of the Firm” and the familiar Horse Lords sound locks into place, with layered and interwoven notes creating a sort of musical puzzle.
In the album’s press materials, it’s noted that Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! isn’t necessarily a suite per se, but there are links here and there which give the record some conceptual cohesion: “We like the idea of art as a tool for changing your perspective, being able to rotate ideas and see/hear/feel them from a different vantage point.” Three interludes, “Rotation I”, “Rotation II”, and “Rotation III” ranging from eight seconds to a minute and a half, are vocal-led set pieces that link tracks on the record’s front end and offer brief respites from the interlocking instrumental tracks.
While Horse Lords’ approach is somewhat comfortable and familiar to fans, small differences in dynamics and arrangements give the record a nice variety. “First Galactic Utopia” and “Second Galactic Utopia” are anchored by simple, chunky bass lines that wouldn’t sound out of place on an early Yes album. Gaunt acoustic guitar lines introduce “After the Last Sky” before horns and electric guitar trade thorny licks over an off-kilter beat. The slinky “A City Yet to Come” introduces bits of atonal jazz skronk, thanks to Bernstein’s bleating saxophone, and some wild synth noise harkens back to the chaos of 1970s Miles Davis fusion exploration.
The record’s magnum opus, however, is the closing title track, which revels in bright, hallucinogenic synth lines. Meanwhile, Eilbacher and Haberman create a playful rhythm section that seems to defy tradition but remains compellingly listenable, and the vocals create their own clipped, alien language. As usual, it sounds like music from another planet, but it is warm, lush, and crisp.
The additional vocals and instruments on Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! are less an intrusion and more of a welcome expansion. There is a beautifully down-to-earth aspect to this record, and Horse Lords seem keenly aware of and confident in their signature sound while still finding ways to keep it fresh and unique.