Tired Pony – The Place We Ran From (2010)
Quite an assemblage of fancy names for this new project from Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, called Tired Pony, with members including R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Belle & Sebastian’s Richard Colburn, along with an extensive cameo list (M. Ward, Tom Smith from Editors, Zooey Deschanel from your dreams). The crew holed up for a week of recording sessions in Portland with Jacknife Lee (who’s worked with Gary and Peter at their day jobs, along with Bloc Party and U2) and knocked out a ten-track “twisted love-letter to the States.” The first track, a pretty little acoustic strummer titled “Point Me At Islands,” is up at tiredpony.com for the price of a functional email addy. It features Zooey on background vocals and a country-folk fiddle solo. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of the more restrained side of Snow Patrol’s hearty emotionalism, this one’s for you.
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