Horsebeach

Ryan Kennedy launched Manchester's Horsebeach by taking annual leave from his position at Piccadilly Records in order to devote time to crafting his melodic, dreamy guitar pop. Those two weeks yielded the project's 2014 self-titled debut, captured directly to tape inside Kennedy's Manchester flat. Eager to perform the material live, the multi-instrumentalist and producer assembled a group featuring Tom Critchley on bass, Tom Featherstone on guitar, and longtime friend Matt Booth on backing vocals and drums, while Kennedy himself handled lead vocals and guitar. The resulting album, whose jangly indie guitar style echoed the C-86 era, secured an invitation for the band to appear at Primavera's winter event Club Primavera in Barcelona. Their second album, II, arrived in 2015 and introduced the X-Files-inspired track "Dana" alongside a noticeably lusher and more expansive sonic approach than the first record. Every Horsebeach release, including the 2017 album Beauty & Sadness, came out on the band's own Alone Together imprint. Seeking to maintain that independent path, the group used crowdfunding to finance their fourth LP, The Unforgiving Current. Preceded by the single "Dreaming," the set sustained the warm dream pop of prior efforts and reached listeners in August 2019.