Dirty Three Horse Stories by: Al Cottrill Mon:25-Jun-07 Label: Touch and Go Year: 1996 WB rating 89 out of 100

There is hardly such sparse a picture as these three men, a wooden group on a wooden stage, rid of any modern pretence or gaudy show. Dirty Three’s self-titled album was an immediate classic, brimming with emotion and power; alone it could have been a potent legacy. It would have been mindless to tamper with this beautiful formula; Horse Stories instead is a consummate progression. Retaining the simplicity and candescent emotion that made their last album so special, Dirty Three move onto refining this sound, maturing their once brash emotions into an altogether richer spectrum. Where their debut, Sad And Dangerous was a different beast, only hinting at their future direction, three years on Horse Stories is as obvious a progression as could have been written.

Growing from the atmosphere of Dirty Three, emotion is now schizophrenic; where once it was sudden and brash, now it extends onwards. Dirty Three’s broad brushstrokes of feeling and circumstance don’t compare to the apparent focus of Horse Stories’ love. It is like comparing the fire of a lust-ravaged six-month relationship to the breakdown of one of ten years. The range of emotions, their depth and finesse are far greater on Horse Stories, and it is a more personal record because of it. You know the Dirty Three of their self-titled album will recover, the men in Horse Stories you are not so sure.

Ellis has claimed that all of these tunes are love songs, and while that may be true, they are about the side of love not so often celebrated. They contain the spectrum of emotions love can elicit, the pain, the torment, the joy and the loss, and in particular, regret. ‘1000 Miles’ immediately suggests this regret, recalling both ‘Everything’s Fucked’ and ‘Last Night’. Drawing from the two highlights of the previous album is a perfect way to start Horse Stories, and by comparison demonstrate the band’s growth. Consider the closing ‘Dirty Equation’ of their previous album, building to everything the album had been suggesting, it was full of menace and fury, the tempo lifted and the band finally playing rocking riffs and rhythm. It was an outpouring of pent up energy. Horse Stories is the obvious thematic progression from this: the long depression after this intense burst of emotion.

The increased emotional depth is apparent in the shift in atmosphere. Instead of the stark emotion and gentle phasing of the previous album, Horse Stories is more damaged and less predictable, impulsively switching between melancholy and bitter hatred. Dirty Three’s improvement in this comes from a willingness to delve further into the recesses of human emotion and experience, to use the music to tell an extended story that flows through the entire album. The green, brash emotion of youth has mellowed and matured, becoming taciturn in its displays when possible, and regretful of impetuous lapses in this façade. Each song rises and falls into the next, continuing a heart-broken narrative; offering hope one moment, and shattering it the next; lashing out preceding regretful sorrow. Horse Stories is sodden with vulnerability; its atmosphere conflicted, as emotion is restrained then broken.

It is the Dirty Three though, and this restraint was never absolute. ‘I Remember A Time When You Used To Love Me’ is as tempestuous as the title suggests, it opens with a Latin sound reeking of guarded bitterness, as though beginning a conversation. Gradually it builds, introducing mocking violin over pounding bass, its tone becomes less accepting, Ellis’ violin screeching higher and higher, the rhythm section railing and the Dirty Three tormenting their once lover. The attack of the song’s finale is the Dirty Three’s most violent work since the last 20 seconds of ‘Last Night’, completely overwhelming, enveloped in furious noise. ‘At The Bar’ follows, and could not be more contrary. Like recovering from the previous night’s conflict in ‘I Remember A Time…’ it is contemplative at best, with a gentle richness hanging over it. The restraint has returned, Dirty Three almost guilty of the previous lapse. With masterful timing however, they do not let it regress into sparse tedium, constantly tugging at the edges, letting the melody slip, then jolting it alive. It is a perfect summation of Dirty Three’s richer, mellowed and mature sound.

While Dirty Three have mastered pain and sorrow, and Horse Stories is a consummate study in both of these, they understand the deadening weight of pure melancholy, ensuring their sound is invigorated with moments of hope. Predictably, ‘Hope’ reflects this, with Turner playing a beautiful organ line, lifted by Ellis’ violin. The rest of the track is as fragile and wishful as the outlook it describes. ‘Horse’ is the album’s counterweight, lifting the second half with a country-tinged celebration. Intersected with the furious ‘Red’, which is the peak of Horse Stories’ harrowing noise, and sorrowful ‘Warren’s Lament’, this hope is nothing if not intermittent and unstable, but has greater clarity because of it. Dirty Three’s skill at controlling emotion, and ability to make music speak, is shown at its peak here; despite parts of ‘Horse’ exploring similar musical motifs to ‘Everything’s Fucked’, they convey completely contrasting emotions.

Alternating between raw pain and jarring regret, the Dirty Three produced a study in emotion. There is no doubt that these tracks are love songs, because anyone who has loved would know these feelings well. However, it is not a pretty picture painted by Horse Stories, the stark emotions may have mellowed, but the pain and vulnerability is here like nowhere on Dirty Three. The progression in composition and depth of sound, while definite improvements instrumentally, were to the detriment of the raw edge in Dirty Three that made it so exciting. This taciturn emotion has both made the album more and less accessible, easier on the ears for those that prefer it, yet also less immediately powerful. While this does not affect the quality of the album, for they are almost mutually exclusive alternatives, the fire of Dirty Three is somewhat missed. Horse Stories instead requires longer asserting itself, but in the end will be a more rewarding experience. Both have their peaks, but as a whole, Horse Stories tells a deeper, longer and more intelligent story.