In 2023, Billy Nomates — the project of Bristol's Tor Maries — released her sophomore effort Cacti. Shortly after, she dealt with misogynistic attacks on social media after the BBC streamed her Glastonbury set. But today she's back with the announcement of her new album Metalhorse.
The lead single "The Test" is out now, about which Maries explains, “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. 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 produced by James Trevascus and has bass player Mandy Clarke (KT Tunstall, The Go! Team) and drummer Liam Chapman (Rozi Plain, BMX Bandits). The track "Dark Horse Friend" also features the Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell. Maries and her band were booked for the studio three months after the passing of Maries’ dad to Parkinson's. “We were so close and our bond was music,” she says, continuing:
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.
Hear "The Test" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Metalhorse"
02 "Nothing Worth Winning"
03 "The Test"
04 "Override"
05 "Dark Horse Friend" (Feat. Hugh Cornwell)
06 "Life’s Unfair"
07 "Plans"
08 "Gas"
09 "Comedic Timing"
10 "Strange Gift"
11 "Moon Explodes"
Metalhorse is out 5/16 via Invada. Pre-order it here.
