Billy Nomates will release new album ‘Metalhorse’ on May 16th.
The songwriter – Tor Maries – released her excellent second album ‘CACTI’ in 2023, but then endured a turbulent time in her life. Using music as a means to navigate this, circumstances often pushed Tor to her limit, but she kept pushing back.
Deciding to work with her full live band, sessions for Billy Nomates’ third album were due to take place at Paco Loco in Seville, Spain when Tor heard that her father had passed away.
“We were so close and our bond was music,” she says of her relationship with her father. “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.”
Produced by James Trevascus, the resulting record is a transformative experience, one driven by singular purpose.
New track ‘The Test’ is out now, the opening page of her next chapter – a hugely potent piece of songwriting, it blends Tor’s pop inflections with a muscular, live band feel.
“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,” she says. “I really feel that when we’re playing it live. Like, with everything that’s going on, I can’t believe this is surviving.”
A new video is online now, shot by the album’s creative director TomSkipp.
Catch Billy Nomates performing at the following in-stores:
May
18 Nottingham Rough Trade
19 London Rough Trade East
20 Brighton Resident
22 Coventry Just Dropped In
Tracklisting:
Metalhorse
Nothing Worth Winning
The Test
Override
Dark Horse Friend feat. Hugh Cornwell
Life’s Unfair
Plans
Gas
Comedic Timing
Strange Gift
Moon Explodes
Photo Credit: Jack Dallas-Chapman
