Through this particularly sodden February, clothes and faces drenched by an unrelenting sky, there is perhaps nothing we dare to summon more than a rain dance itself. And yet, Spanish Horses, with their new single ‘Raindance’, may cause you to reconsider. Should you find yourself moving involuntarily, drawn into some elemental ritual, it may well be Spanish Horses that are to blame.
There is something sensually Lynchian about this song, cinematic in its aura and undeniably erotic. Low, breathy vocals (Tom Onezime) whisper above a brooding guitar and bassline (Albert Cocker & Victor Michee) with added weight from synths and keys (Spike Davis-Yuille), allowing a quiet tenderness to trickle through the track. It is a shame perhaps, that this track did not arrive in time for Valentine’s Day but alas! Knowing it was written in France in the summer of 2025 adds a layer of French sensuality and cinematic longing, yet having been recorded in London, the track carries both climates within it: the languor of summer heat and London’s stark city.
There is a beautiful, yet frustrating tension in the song’s construction, guitars compressed and concentrated, aching to rupture, whilst the voice above never fully yields. It is this teasing restraint that makes the track all the more powerful.
It isn’t until the halfway mark of ‘Raindance’ that the song begins to unravel into a gradual climax. As the drums (Cyril Stephan) intensity and the track unfurls, it never fully loses control, instead, it maintains a quivering poise. Raindance fades into a seraphic choral arrangement, before the final minute arrives and corrupts everything that came before. The guitars emerge rough and restless, the drums unyielding, and the vocals rise. Then, just as suddenly, it recedes, fading out on a soft beat that mirrors a steady heart.
I’m in love with this intimate track.
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