Horsebath has returned with “Nightfall,” a murder ballad inspired by tales heard on the road. Filmed in Halifax’s St. Andrew’s Church, the live performance is a taste of what Horsebath are capable of and offering up an eerie new track on the near side of Hallowe’en.
“The spirits haunt the stage, their dance launched with a word, ‘Nightfall,'” says Art Director, Enora Sanschagrin, waxing poetic on the live performance. “There are voices in the distant light, there are faces in the sea’. The minstrels pluck their magic garments to tell the story whole. A dead lover sings the praise of she who took his life, not afraid of singing himself a fool.
“A murder ballad that makes you dance? Indeed, with ‘Nightfall,’ the two singer-songwriters of Horsebath demonstrate their ability to revisit classic folk themes with the playful haunting twist that is their own—a dance macabre that fiddles with your clinking bones.”
However romanticized Sanschagrin’s interpretation of the live performance might be, not to mention the very grim outcome of the song, the true story that inspired songwriters Keast Mutter and Daniel Connolly is, unfortunately, tragic in more ways than one.
Happily, it came to the band just at a time when they were making a few changes to their sound, and it seems that “Nightfall” was well suited for it.
“On the road last October we started experimenting with different styles and rhythms. The changing of the leaves and cold winds partly inspired the lyrics,” explains Connolly. “The other part came from a fella we met in the west. He cheated on his girlfriend and, when she found out, I guess she tried to kill him.”
And so, in the time-honoured tradition of murder ballads, someone inevitably does. In the case of “Nightfall,” it seems like it’s going to be a double bill, with the murderess heading for a grisly end.
“She couldn’t bear the things I swore, that I would never do,” sings the band, bringing things to a swift conclusion. “Now I lay without a stone, as dead as any fool. They’ll hang her by the ringing bell, they’ll drag her by her feet, they’ll watch her take her final breath, as she did with me.”
It’s a fine tune to put anyone in the spirit for the season, and we’re always a bunch of suckers for a good murder ballad.
Tour Dates:
10.21.21 – Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse Tavern