Road Movie Dream is the ambitious new double album from York Calling debutants Mighty Horse.

By Graeme Smith

Spanning eighteen tracks over 80 minutes, listening to Road Movie Dream is not a small undertaking. Yet, if you make time for it, you’ll be richly rewarded.

Double albums are as rare as unicorn droppings in a modern music industry where everything must be TikTok-able. Mighty Horse’s singer-songwriter Tony Jackson ignored the warnings and released one anyway. I’m glad he did. Being able to get fully immersed in a record is a treat.

The album opens psychedelically with the slow-building and chanting Hey Lah and from there we get a varied tapestry of sounds. Crystal Green and 33 Revolutions give us galloping indie rock while Jamaican Dove slows things down for a chilled moment of reggae. Confessional, folksy lyrics go hand in hand with soulful vocals, and the live recorded approach makes it all feel very immediate.

Souffle proves an early highlight thanks to its freakadelic style and boho vocals, so does lively ska knees up, Hello Trouble. Elsewhere Blue Out Of The Blue is a lingering blues odyssey. High Priest rattles along with punk energy. Title track Road Movie Dream closes the album taking its time to unfold over a dreamy and atmospheric nine and three-quarter classic rock minutes.

Formed in Melbourne in 2017 by artists with plenty of experience between them, Mighty Horse have never been afraid to do things differently. We need more like them in our world.

Road Movie Dream was recorded at Soundpark Studios in Northcote, Melbourne, Australia with overdubs and production coming at the band’s own studio in Castlemaine. It’s out 4 May 2025.