Mild-mannered ‘supergroup’ Tired Pony emerged as a countrified project for Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody, along with REM guitarist Peter Buck and bandmates including producer Garret Lee and Belle & Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn.
While their 2010 debut The Place We Ran From was a speedy endeavour, it sounds like they’ve relaxed into the Americana trail on follow-up The Ghost of the Mountain.
The album was recorded at Lee’s home studio in Topanga Canyon in California (the view from the locale graces the LP’s cover) and features harmony vocals from a trio of actress/singers: Minnie Driver, Bronagh Gallagher and Kim Topper.
Lead track “All Things All at Once” was written by Lightbody in the drunken wee hours after the band had celebrated the conclusion of the recording sessions but was added the next day when Lee remarked upon hearing it, “Well, we have to record this.”
The solid songcraft never canters out of the comfort zone for these talented players but numbers such as the electro-roots of I Don’t Want You As A Ghost, the gospel-tinged Blood and the tremulous Ravens And Wolves are well arranged.