An Horse is an Australian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

duo, formed in 2007 in Brisbane, Australia and founded by Kathleen "Kate" Cooper and Damon Cox. The duo has released three studio albums ('' Rearrange Beds'' in 2009, '' Walls'' in 2011 and ''Modern Air'' in 2019) and two 2009 hit singles ("Camp Out" and "Postcards").

History

Becoming An Horse

Kathleen "Kate" Cooper and Damon Cox met while working at an independent record store called Skinny's in Brisbane, Australia. They began making music together in 2007, and set up a PA in the store, where they would rehearse after-hours and organise shows in the Brisbane area.

2007–2008: ''Not Really Scared''

The duo's first recording was a 5 song EP, ''Not Really Scared'', which was released by local Brisbane label

Valve Records Valve Records is an Australian record label, releasing a wide range of alternative artists both local and international. The label was created by Paul Curtis in 1994 to support the local bands he was managing. Regurgitator, a successful band h ...

. Kathleen handed a rough mix version on CD to Tegan and Sara at the Canadian duo's in-store performance at Skinny's, and not long after received an invite for An Horse to open their ''Out of Hibernation'' US tour in April 2008. Off the back of that tour, they were the first duo to be signed to New York label

Mom + Pop Music Mom + Pop Music is a New York City-based independent record label whose current roster includes Courtney Barnett, Madeon, Tom Morello, Porter Robinson, Tycho, Tash Sultana, Sunflower Bean, Beach Bunny, Caamp, Del Water Gap and more. Founder an ...

Michael Goldstone Michael Goldstone is an American music industry executive and owner of Mom + Pop Music. Goldstone began his career at Chrysalis Records in Los Angeles doing Public Relations, working with Blondie, Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis and others before movin ...

. They returned to the US in October 2008 for tours with Bishop Allen and Jessica Lea Mayfield, while continuing to tour at home in Australia with Death Cab For Cutie, The New Pornographers and more.

2009–2010: ''Rearrange Beds''

Their debut album, ''Rearrange Beds'', was released on 17 March 2009 on the label

Mom + Pop ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

. It was recorded in Australia with Australian Recording Industry Association, ARIA award-winning Australian producer Magoo, and was mixed in Vancouver by

Howard Redekopp Howard Redekopp is a Canadian Juno Award-winning record producer, mixer, writer, musician, and recording engineer best known for his work with Tegan and Sara and La Gusana Ciega. Redekopp's production work has received two Grammy Award nominat ...

. The album received favourable reviews from Pitchfork,

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

and Rolling Stone. Upon its release they appeared on '' The Late Show with David Letterman'' and continued with extensive US touring with acts including

The Appleseed Cast The Appleseed Cast is an American rock band from Lawrence, Kansas. The band was founded in the early days of emo by singer-guitarist Christopher Crisci and drummer Louie Ruiz. The Appleseed Cast has steadily evolved over the release of eight fu ...

, Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant,

Wintersleep Wintersleep is a Canadian indie rock band formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2001.Heidi Ulrichsen"Wintersleep offers 'sneak peeks' of new album at Boreal" ''Sudbury Star'', June 30, 2014. The band's original lineup consisted of vocalist and gui ...

and Telekinesis. They also opened again for Tegan and Sara on Australian, UK and Canadian tours. 2010 touring included shows with Kaki King, Dashboard Confessional and The Big Pink. A 2010 Australian tour with

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

was scheduled, but was later cancelled. Cooper and Cox worked on writing their second album throughout 2010, and recording took place that summer in Vancouver with

producing. 2010 also saw the band tour Germany, Austria and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

extensively as ''Rearrange Beds'' saw a release on the

Grand Hotel van Cleef Grand Hotel van Cleef is an independent record label headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. Label history Grand Hotel van Cleef was founded in September 2002 by the musicians Thees Uhlmann, Marcus Wiebusch and Reimer Bustorff. The newly formed band ...

label. Festival appearances included Gurten Festival in Bern, Switzerland and MELT! in Germany. A remix EP called ''Beds Rearranged'' was released on 23 March 2010. The EP includes remixes of songs from ''Rearrange Beds'' by artists such as

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Center, ...

and Gerard Smith from TV on the Radio.

2011–2012: ''Walls''

An Horse released their second album ''Walls'' on 26 April 2011, again through

. It debuted at number 17 on the Billboard charts, Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart The opening-song, "Dressed Sharply", was selected as iTunes Single of the Week, and was also praised by NPR. Alternative Press magazine, Pitchfork and

also posted positive reviews. Touring for ''Walls'' included festival slots at

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

, Bamboozle
ACL Festival
Osheaga, Southside, Hurricane
Rolling Stone Weekender
Falls Festival, Southbound,

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Sled Island
and more. In addition to headline shows in 2011/2012 An Horse toured in the US with Manchester Orchestra,

Kevin Devine Kevin Devine (born December 19, 1979) is an American songwriter and musician from Staten Island, New York City, who is known for his introspective and political themes. He is a contemporary member of the underground indie rock and indie folk m ...

, Nada Surf, Alkaline Trio and in Canada with Brand New and

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

. Two headline tours of Australia also took place.

2013–2017: Hiatus and other projects

The duo did not play live for several years after coming off tour in support of ''Walls''. The duo reconvened for one show on 29 December 2015 at Crowbar in Brisbane. There were hints of working on new music during 2017. During the duo's hiatus, Cooper released an eponymous solo album via Mom + Pop in June 2015. Meanwhile, Cox toured as a drummer for

and occasionally

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...

, as well as an auxiliary percussionist and drum tech for Brand New up to their 2017 tour.

2018: Return and "Get Out Somehow"

On 1 March 2018 the duo announced they were going to start playing again, beginning with three shows in Canada with Camp Cope. Later, on 5 March, they announced they would be touring the US with The Front Bottoms. On 16 May, the duo released the single "Get Out Somehow", which marked their first new music since 2011.

2019: ''Rearrange Beds'' re-issue and ''Modern Air''

On 23 January 2019, the duo announced a new album was to be released in May on

Lame-O Records Lame-O Records is an independent record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Eric Osman to release Modern Baseball's ''Sports'', the label has been hailed as one of Philadelphia's best indie labels. History Lame-O Records was fo ...

, with a vinyl repressing of ''Rearrange Beds'' preceding it in late January. On 18 March, they revealed the album was called ''Modern Air'' with a release date of 3 May.

Mike Sapone Mike Sapone is an American record producer, composer, audio engineer, and mixer, whose credits include producing records for bands such as Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Boston Manor, The Front Bottoms, Mayday Parade, Grouplove, Sorority Noise, ...

produced and mixed the album. The album's release was preceded by two further singles: "This is a Song" on 20 March, and "Ship of Fools" on 12 April. In May 2019 the duo toured North America with longtime friends Camp Cope.

Appearances

Film and television

On March 12, 2009, An Horse made their first ever television appearance on the

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

, performing their song "Camp Out". "Postcards" (another song by the duo) appeared in a television advertisement for the

Mercedes-Benz CLC-Class The Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W203) is the internal designation for a range of compact executive cars manufactured and marketed by DaimlerChrysler from 2000 to early 2007, as the second generation of the C-Class — in sedan/saloon, three-door l ...

in 2008. "Trains and Tracks" (one of the duo's other songs) was featured in the 2017 British romantic comedy-drama film ''Happy Birthday, Toby Simpson''.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Rearrange Beds'' (released in 2009 by

and

Poison City Records Poison City Records is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Victoria, founded in 2003. The label opened a physical store in 2008, at 400 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy selling records and skateboards. In mid-2020, the store and label moved ...

and re-issued in 2019) *'' Walls'' (released in 2011 by Mom + Pop Music) *''Modern Air'' (released in 2019 by

and Poison City Records)

Extended plays

*''Not Really Scared'' (released in 2008 by

) *''Beds Rearranged Remix EP'' (released in 2010 by Mom + Pop Music)

Non-album single

*"Get Out Somehow" (released in 2018)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Australian indie pop groups Australian shoegaze musical groups Musical groups established in 2007 2007 establishments in Australia Musical groups from Brisbane Grand Hotel van Cleef Records artists Mom + Pop Music artists Lame-O Records artists