Blly Nomates, the project of the Bristol-based singer-songwriter Tor Maries, has announced a new album: Metalhorse comes out May 16 via Invada Records. The follow-up to 2023’s CACTI is led by ‘The Test’, a driving slice of heartland rock. Check it out below, and scroll down for the cover artwork and tracklist.
“It’s working at something against the odds and feeling like someone’s helping you from the other side, and if they see you that’s the test,” Nomates said in a statement. “I really feel that when we’re playing it live. Like, with everything that’s going on, I can’t believe this is surviving.”
Metalhorse was recorded at Paco Loco in Seville, Spain with producer James Trevascus. Bassist Mandy Clarke (KT Tunstall, The Go! Team) and drummer Liam Chapman (Rozi Plain, BMX Bandits), who play in Nomates’ live band, joined Maries in the studio, which was booked just three months after the passing of her dad to Parkinson’s. “We were so close and our bond was music,” she shared. “That was my safety and protection in the world. Even in the care home, as things were getting worse, I’d visit him and he’d ask me what I was doing. I’d show him the new demos, or I’d have been on the radio. It sort of saved everything from being shit, because we had this positive thing to talk about.”
“To me, Metalhorse is this crumbling fairground where some rides are nice to get on and some rides aren’t,” Maries added. “That’s how life felt for a minute, and it still feels like that a bit now.”
Check out our Artist Spotlight interview with Billy Nomates.
Metalhorse Cover Artwork:
Metalhorse Tracklist:
1. Metalhorse
2. Nothing Worth Winning
3. The Test
4. Override
5. Dark Horse Friend feat. Hugh Cornwell
6. Life’s Unfair
7. Plans
8. Gas
9. Comedic Timing
10. Strange Gift
11. Moon Explodes
