Caligula’s Horse: Feeling Your Way Through The Darkness

Since 2011, Australia’s CALIGULA’S HORSE have blossomed into one of the genre’s most exciting and innovative bands. Never following the same blueprint twice they have continued to impress and astound with their vibrant, engaging approach to songwriting. Whilst the majority of their back catalogue has been colourful and optimistic, their impending offering Charcoal Grace sees the band delve into a bleaker, more intense soundscape. 

“It’s definitely the darkest album we’ve ever released, sonically speaking at least,” admits frontman Jim Grey. “We went to great lengths to be emotionally honest with this one and certainly after all the experiences that we have had over the last few years with the pandemic, it didn’t feel honest to continue along the lines of us just going ‘hey, let’s write some uplifting music because that’s who we are as people’. The stories and the kind of tones that came out and Charcoal Grace are very reflective of that time.”

The pandemic threw the music industry into disarray, leaving a lot of musicians who depended on the touring element as their main source of income and exposure in an uncomfortable state of limbo, not knowing when any kind of normality may resume. This was also an additionally frustrating time for CALIGULA’S HORSE who had released their Rise Radiant album in May 2020, wondering whether they’d ever get to tour it. 

“I had difficulty acknowledging that Rise Radiant existed because we wanted it to have its moment in the limelight and due to COVID it never really got that,” explains Jim. “It was simultaneously the best and worst time as it was the worst because of timing but the best because the subject matter was all about empowerment and overcoming and I received a lot of comments from people saying they really connected with it. I wanted it to have its moment to shine and when we returned to touring it finally got that and I’m really stoked that it did as we feel like going into the Charcoal Grace release that we have all this momentum and emotional positivity that was missing during the writing process. It’s almost like we’ve come full circle.”

Jim found the uncertainty of the pandemic particularly unnerving and this had a knock-on effect in terms of his confidence to continue as a musician. “I can’t speak for the others, but I know I had the fear coming back after a three plus year gap and the kind of ego death that I know I experienced throughout that time. I didn’t know if I could do it anymore. I felt like I’ve done this thing for like 20 years, am I even capable anymore? The most challenging part was when it came to recording the damn thing. There are certain moments which were so emotional that I felt overwhelmed by it. Some parts of the story are so tragic and the young character in that story is so angry and I felt every little piece of that. There were a lot of tears in the recording room but generally it was bliss because we were back doing our thing together again and I think we’ve came out with something that is better than anything we’ve ever done.”

Prior to the release of Charcoal Grace, CALIGULA’S HORSE have given us a taste of what to expect with a string of singles that all vary significantly in tempo and approach. Jim was taken aback with the outpouring of approval from their fanbase. “I wasn’t aware this was a thing but there is such a thing that exists as positive YouTube comments! I thought they were like unicorns,” he jokes. “I have never really read comments because it hurts my feelings seeing anything negative and I happened to see some which were actually very nice and the reception has been wonderful. I think the tracks we’ve released have allowed us to give people a better idea of what Charcoal Grace is going to be than if we had just released Golem for example, which is a very strong lead but not really indicative of the full picture. Stormchaser is a very emotional song and I’ve had messages from people saying how they connected to it and I feel like that is the track which everyone has resonated with the most so far. One of my favourite takeaways from the video for that track is that there is a mysterious character in the background creeping around and one of my first thoughts was to cast my dad! He is actually an actor and had a blast being part of it. I’ve wanted to collaborate with him for a long time and he does a great job of looking scary.”

It goes without saying that the instrumental acumen within CALIGULA’S HORSE is of an exceptional quality but one of the hallmarks of their sound is the incredible range and depth of Jim‘s vocal offerings which really enhance the images they are portraying through their music. Even though at the time he begrudgingly followed the will of his parents, being enveloped in the world of vocal performance from such a young age enabled him to be the well rounded artist he is today. 

“My folks wanted me to go to private school and I didn’t have much say in that so they made me do a load of exams for scholarships as there was no universe in which we could afford private school. It was based out of a cathedral in Brisbane, I sang in a choir and they were impressed as I had a natural ear. We should sing before school, after school, evenings, weddings and services, singing choral music every fucking day. It was hard work but it helped train and control my voice. It wasn’t really until my teens that I discovered bands and thought ‘holy shit, I want to do THAT!’.”

Charcoal Grace is out now via InsideOut Music.

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