News

Dead Horses Premiere Their New Single “Days Grow Longer” — New Tour Dates Announced

Milwaukee band Dead Horses have premiered a new single for “Days Grow Longer” from their upcoming album, Brady Street, out August 12. The track, described as a “upbeat tune with a deeper underbelly,” can be heard exclusively at Popmatters and will be up on all digital streaming services this Friday, July 15. Songwriter Sarah Vos recalls that the song is “…more fun, and it’s lighter too – unless you look very hard.”

Vos reveals that the song came after a dark period, both literally and figuratively. The song kicks off with the lyrics, “Sometime last year, I lost my voice. I lost touch with who needed me most.’ Vos explains: “The shutdown gave many folks the opportunity to see their lives with a different perspective, myself included. I honestly spent a fair amount of it wondering if I even wanted to tour again. But what I came out with was the desire to try again. I was able to see, again, what I had been missing for a while—what had been watered down by the struggles of the music industry, my own personal suffering, and inner-band conflict. I am so thankful for that second chance.

WATCH THE LYRIC VIDEO FOR “DAYS GROW LONGER” BELOW

PRE-SAVE THE SINGLE HERE

PRE-ORDER BRADY STREET HERE

Blending elements of traditional roots with modern indie folk, Dead Horses are both familiar and unexpected, unflinchingly honest in their portrayal of modern American life, yet optimistic in their unshakable faith in brighter days to come. The reflective track, with frontwoman Sarah Vos (vocals, guitar) providing her own backing harmonies and Dan Wolff (upright bass) providing the gently rolling bass line, is an ode to their colorful, free-spirited stomping grounds.

Brady Street is the long overdue follow-up to the band’s arresting 2018 album, My Mother The Moon, which landed on multiple high-profile playlists — the single “Turntable” has accrued more than 38 millions Spotify streams — and found the pair profiled in Billboard, Noisey, and independent global news publication Democracy Now, as well as being a Rolling Stone “Artist You Should Know.” The band’s spare instrumentation — upright bass, guitar and drums — provide a perfect backdrop for Vos’ raw, unadorned vocals as she shared songs inspired by her experiences with judgement, homelessness, poverty and coming to terms with her own sexuality.

“In many ways, Brady Street is an answer to My Mother the Moon,” Vos explains. The latter was written and recorded in the midst of working through childhood traumas and first venturing out on my own in such an uncertain way. Brady Street takes the intimacy of nature and brings it into the city. Instead of walks through the forest, there are walks through neighborhoods, past all of the old churches and bars. Both records are filled with songs of hope and the search for beauty, as well as compassion for others — especially strangers.”

While they recorded in Nashville for their last album, working with producer Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo), the pair decided to stick to their rural Wisconsin roots for the Brady Street sessions, choosing to record at Honeytone Studios in Neenah, Wisconsin on Lake Winnebego.

The second and third tracks open to reveal Dead Horses’ evolution into more intricate places rhythmically and sonically. “It’s All Good” is the first song that Dead Horses worked together on after the Covid shutdown. One of the most painful songs on the album is “Ok Kid,” inspired by her brother’s struggles with mental illness.

“I wrote most of this one night while on tour in Bloomington, Indiana. I was having a very difficult time, and I spent a lot of it in my bedroom at the Air BnB. I filled the song with musings on things like money, life, sickness, illusion and ego. I echo the redemption that nature offers to many of us recovering from years of being told that we are inherently sinful. I recalled the time, a summer earlier, that my brother almost died. He suffers severely from schizophrenia and had taken too many of his pills. I was on tour in Boonville, California, when my mom called to say he was in the ICU. My brother’s struggle with schizophrenia had and has a significant influence on my life.”

This song pulls away to the sparsely beautiful, intimate “Bird Over the Train,” which was recorded live.

“The imagery of a bird flying over a train is meant to be symbolic of the question of free will,” Vos says. “The train is on tracks, on a course, while the bird is flying overhead, perhaps on the same course, perhaps able to change it. This question of free will has fascinated me my entire life and so I’ve even got this image tattooed on my forearm! The song also touches on escape and finding peace within yourself.”

The resilient “You Are Who You Need to Be” is a ballad meant to empower those who don’t fit into society’s gender and sexuality norms. It’s an anthem of acceptance and compassion for anyone who feels “other.”

Over the years, the road has become somewhat of a second home for Sarah and Dan. “Connecting with people at shows and being open together breathes new life into everything,” Sarah notes. “You can go somewhere and feel like a total stranger or a lost tourist at first,” as Dan perfectly describes the sensation of performing, “but once you hit the stage, you feel like you’re part of a community.”

TRACKLISTING

  1. Brady Street
  2. It’s All Good
  3. Ok Kid
  4. Bird Over the Train
  5. Birds Can Write the Chorus
  6. All I Ever Wanted
  7. Ward
  8. You Are Who You Need to Be
  9. Under Grey Skies
  10. Days Grow Longer

TOUR DATES (trio):

  • SAT, JUL 16 MANITOWOC, WI – ACOUSTIC FEST
  • THU, JUL 21 MINTURN, CO – MINTURN CONCERT SERIES
  • SAT, JUL 23 CAMBRIDGE, WI – MIDWEST FIRE FEST
  • FRI, AUG 12 MILWAUKEE, WI – TURNER HALL BALLROOM
  • SAT, AUG 13 CHICAGO, IL – HIDEOUT
  • SUN, AUG 14 DES MOINES, IA – XBK
  • THU, AUG 25 ST. LOUIS, MO – OLD ROCK HOUSE
  • FRI, AUG 26 FAYETTEVILLE, AR – FAYETTEVILLE ROOTS FESTIVAL
  • SAT, AUG 27 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – PONY BOY OKC
  • SUN, AUG 28 LAWRENCE, KS – THE BOTTLENECK
  • TUE, SEP 6 SIOUX CITY, IA – VANGARDE ARTS
  • WED, SEP 7 SPEARFISH, SD – MATTHEWS OPERA HOUSE
  • THU, SEP 8 DENVER, CO – GLOBE HALL
  • FRI, SEP 9 TELLURIDE, CO – MUSIC ON THE GREEN
  • TUE – THU, SEP 13-15 NASHVILLE, TN – AMERICANAFEST
  • FRI, SEP 16 LA CROSSE, WI – MID WEST MUSIC FEST – Dead Horses will headline at the Cavalier Theatre
  • SAT, SEP 17 EAU CLAIRE, WI – JAMF THEATRE PABLO CENTER
  • SUN, SEP 18 ST. PAUL, MN – TURF CLUB
  • FRI, SEP 23 WINONA, MN – BOATS & BLUEGRASS
  • FRI, SEP 30 AURORA, IL – THE VENUE
  • SUN, OCT 2 INDIANAPOLIS, IN – WHITE RABBIT CABARET
  • TUE, OCT 4 COLUMBUS, OH – RUMBA CAFE
  • WED, OCT 5 PENINSULA, OH – THE G.A.R. HALL
  • THU, OCT 6 PITTSBURGH, PA – CLUB CAFE
  • FRI, OCT 7 BROOKLYN, NY – UNION POOL
  • SAT, OCT 8 CAMBRIDGE, MA – ATWOOD’S TAVERN
  • SUN, OCT 9 PHILADELPHIA, PA – THE LOFT @ CITY WINERY
  • WED, OCT 12 WASHINGTON, DC – DC9
  • THU, OCT 13 CARRBORO, NC – CAT’S CRADLE BACKROOM
  • FRI, OCT 14 CHARLOTTE, NC – THE EVENING MUSE

Back to top button