You would think that being in the same room at the same time would be a prerequisite for forming a band. But for indie rock trio The Deltahorse, it’s less of an issue than you might assume. Consisting of Sydney, Australia singer-songwriter TJ Eckleberg, Berlin-native Sash, and Boston-based musician Dana Colley (who incidentally used to play sax for Morphine), The Deltahorse create mammoth slabs of thunderous bass, sax riffs, and slide guitar — all held together by Eckleberg’s dry vocals and pointed lyrics. It’s music steeped in the long and storied histories of the blues, folk, and mid-90’s alterna-rock but not overly burdened by its influences. It’s the wail of a baritone sax in a dingy dive bar at 2:30 in the morning, where the only people in attendance are the bartender and those few people who have no other place to go.
On the latest single, “Hey Yuri,” from their upcoming debut The Deltahorse EP (out November 19th), the band employs low-end bass lines, Eckleberg’s commanding voice, and Colley’s interstitial sax runs to create a song that seems to thrive in the shadows, content to wait in the dark corners of an all night studio. Pulling in sounds culled from artists such as David Bowie, Beck, and Morphine (not surprisingly), the track offers a welcome respite from the darkness only to quickly turn eerie and foreboding. And it’s in this subtle change that the band draws out the small details which allow them to successfully twist and contort the rhythms into controllable bits of noise and thudding melody.
Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere the latest single, “Hey Yuri,” from The Deltahorse’s upcoming self-titled debut EP.
