The Horn is a new indie outfit set up by Nick True, former bassist in 80s rock band Friends of Gavin, who toured with REM back in the day. He recently decided to start a fresh project and recruited a new roster of musicians to play with. Vocalist and guitarist Jonny Taylor has joined the veteran bassist, along with Ed Cox on keyboards, Alex Moorse on drums, and the multi-instrumentalist Danny Monk. It’s safe to say that this is a strong lineup of talented musicians who all know exactly what they’re doing.

The first release on the music scene by this new 5-piece is a song called Passion, which Nick started writing when he was just 26 years old, picking it up again a few years ago. This has given the song a special edge that most songs don’t have. It’s been written over decades, and it’s fascinating to be able to hear the maturity that Nick has learned to implement into his music over time, whilst still retaining some of that raw, young energy and teenage angst from his youth.

Nick says: “I suppose looking back, it was about the roller coaster of life in my 20s. The song always stayed with me and a few years ago I came back to it and wrote the second verse which got me excited about it again. When I played it to Jonny, he liked it straight away and we started work on a new demo. We took it into the studio and came up with some new musical ideas like a new solo by Danny which gave a lot of musicality to play against the constant rhythms. Now it’s finished, it feels special to me because it straddles decades of my life and as the chorus goes, ‘what a feeling’, hearing it finally fulfilled!”

A groovy little riff kicks off the track with some extra, mysterious sounds going on in the background too, giving walking-home-in-the-dark vibes. In come the mellow vocals, smoothly talking us through the song with cool, velvet tones. Nick ensures a solid and steady bassline throughout, contributing his priceless experience to this dynamic debut single which sounds incredibly clean and fresh, with every instrument and vocal shining through perfectly. For this, we can also thank Rich Turvey who mixed the song, and has previously worked with The Coral, Blossoms, and Courteeners.

The voice of the electric guitar rips out harsh and speedy riffs and chords that are undeniably reminiscent of Television’s iconic sound; Nick True and his band are doing a great job of combining their musical experiences and knowledge, mixing together these types of older rock and punk techniques with some modern indie sensibilities.

Well I, for one, am very glad that Nick decided to revisit the old scrunched-up lyric sheet for this song and put it all together with his new band. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye (or an ear) out for news of the next release by The Horn.

You can listen to the song HERE

James Lawson