Go backstage with The Music and receive FREE:

  • Exclusive members-only editorial, charts
  • Our subscriber-only newsletter
  • Members only competitions to win tickets, experiences and more
  • Access to our street press archives
  • First access to our exclusive limited edition vinyl variants

Thank you for being a part of our community! Enter your email address as verification and you'll be taken backstage right away.

Please ensure that you provide a valid email address.

Album Review: Band Of Horses - Why Are You OK

StarStarStarStar

"Mostly centred around head-Horse Ben Bridwell finding peace as a family man."

More Band of Horses Band of Horses

Rather than getting lost in sprawling western vistas, as they could have, Why Are You OK is mostly centred around head-Horse Ben Bridwell finding peace as a family man — songs mostly written in the dark after he's got the kids to bed.

As producer, Grandaddy's Jason Lytle brings out the singer's plaintive scrape of a voice — reflective on Throw My Mess, a little more puzzled on Casual Party. There's other tangents: opening seven-minute meander Dull Times/The Moon stretching and adding some found sounds and spoken words samples — not quite Wilco-esque, but maybe heading that way. It's an album to let seep into you.