Back in 2018, the Estonian band Holy Motors released their debut album Slow Sundown. It was a mesmerizing collection — equal parts gorgeous and perplexing. That had something to do with the fact that, despite being all the way from Estonia, Holy Motors’ sound was a sort of mythic, hazy, dream-Americana. The kind of music you imagine soundtracking movie scenes, but that seems as unreal as those films themselves. We named it Album Of The Week, and it was easy to wonder what might come next for this band.

Well, now we’re about to find out. Holy Motors have announced a new album, their sophomore outing Horse, will be out on Wharf Cat this October. As you might be able to gather from the title and the cover art up top, a core aspect of this band’s identity remains intact — i.e., the fact that they are from an ex-Soviet country and are playing with some deeply classic American iconography.

Along with the announcement, Holy Motors have shared a new song called “Country Church.” It’s got the same fried twang and shimmer as Slow Sundown, but it has a bit more movement to it. You could almost hear “Country Church” as some sunburnt beach indie song that got melted into an old world rock ‘n’ roll song. Frontwoman Eliann Tulve is still just 22, but has this kind of expansive, smoky detachment to her voice that perfectly sells the whole thing. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:

01 “Country Church”
02 “Endless Night”
03 “Midnight Cowboy”
04 “Road Stars”
05 “Matador”
06 “Come On, Slowly”
07 “Trouble”
08 “Life Valley (So Many Miles Away)”

CREDIT: Grete Ly Valing

Horse is out 10/16 via Wharf Cat. Pre-order it here.