Band of Horses Let It Flow

"You know, I thought it would go either way. I thought it would go really big or get panned super hard and people would be like, ‘derivative rock band, suck it, whatever.’ But, it did exceed my expectations. I never expected to sell 100,000 records.” So says Ben Bridwell, lead singer with Band of Horses, whose debut, Everything All The Time indeed attracted both popularity and critical acclaim. The meticulously crafted songs that were equal parts rock and indie, Bridwell’s clear, pining voice and sheer catchy nature all struck a chord and expectations are high on their new effort, Cease To Begin.

Yet Bridwell ain’t too worried when it comes to hammering out the band’s emotionally rich ditties. "What I’m really happy about with the record is that I didn’t over-think any of it,” he notes. "Like, if the song was trying to get written it was just trying to get written. It wasn’t like, ‘Let’s make gnarly rockers!’ It was funny as it all just worked out.”

Another challenge for the band was the departure of Mat Brooke, who came from the defunct Carissa’s Wierd with Bridwell. But, the difference was apparently negligible, according to Bridwell. "It’s really similar actually because Mat came in once most of those songs were written so I already had a pretty good sense of what I was doing but he added so much to that record at the same time because I’m terrible at playing guitar.” It’s hard to pin down why Band of Horses do what they do so well, but it may because the laid-back vibe that they radiate seems so genuine. As Bridwell confidently states, "Really, if the songs are there, just don’t worry about it, just try to finish ’em and let’s go to the studio and put ’em down.”