Album Review: Sugar Horse – Not A Sound In Heaven (Fat Dracula Records)

Bristol-based experimental outfit, Sugar Horse, will release ‘Not A Sound in Heaven’, the band’s 3rd studio album, on 10th April 2026 via Fat Dracula Records.

As indefinable as always, somehow sounding simpler and more complicated than ever in equal measure, this new Sugar Horse album is unlike anything they’ve ever done before. As likely to turn some fans off, bring new ones in, and leave a whole section scratching their heads. It’s Sugar Horse, expect the unexpected. We love this band for their eccentric and eclectic ways and Not A Sound in Heaven lives up to this reputation wholeheartedly. Especially as, should you dive into the lyrical content and meaning behind each track, you’ll find depth.

Where do I sit? Fascinated, as always, but not quite as enamoured as I often find myself. There’s brilliance here, often when Sugar Horse break through the noisy murkiness to let warm sunshine in, and some of these tracks are going to be favourites for many years to come. Yet there’s also moments that don’t quite hit for me.

An example of this dichotomy comes with opening track Fire Graphics where distorted guitars and crashing drums play off clean singing and shouts. The track blooms bit by bit, leading to a latter section that aggressively uses electronica and leaves me feeling a bit cold.

Whereas Secret Speech warms me up nicely, especially when vocalist Ashley just let’s loose. A heavy and powerful one, with thick riffs and tons of emotion and passion, but also plenty of experimental touches too. After all, this is the Sugar Horse way and their innate ability to make both the heart and the head ache continues into the brilliant EX-Human Shield.

The sound of frustration. The sound of anger at a system that makes everything feel so hopeless but delivered in unique Sugar Horse fashion. Going from methodical abrasive noise to downright choral beauty in an instant. Something that wonderfully expands as the track goes on, leading to a final section that is nauseatingly heavy.

One of two huge tracks (in length), History’s Biggest T-Shirts comes next and needs a ton of time to unpack. Beginning in synth-pop style, it’s immediately disconcerting but delightful to hear, especially as it’s no surprise that the danceable aspects are intersected by blasts of ugly and harsh noise elements. Then, like a shot of lightening, we’re soaring through the air on clouds. Experiencing a vibrancy that feels never-ending, delivering a dreaminess that comes with direct quotes and paraphrased passages from a speech by the former Socialist revolutionary President of Chile, Salvador Allende.

The ending to this track might be up there as one of the best things Sugar Horse have ever created.

By contrast, the title track seems so simple (for this band) and fans of the ‘starrier’ side of Sugar Horse will love its poppy, anthemic style. A daring track and I certainly found myself smiling while it played. Whereas Company Town has an industrial layer that leans back into noise, albeit with a clearer rhythmic focus and a latter half tone switch that is blindingly bright. I love the sound of the drums here and the end really does soar, but it’s more of a grower than a shower.

I do think that applies to the album as whole though. While there are so many immediate moments, and tracks that are easy to fall in love with from the start, there’s so much about this album that needs time. I also think, considering it’s an album with one eye on the live side of things, that on stage it could really come to life. Noise is designed to be experienced in the flesh!

Which brings me to You Can’t Say Dallas Doesn’t Love You. An ending that sees Sugar Horse continue to showcase an evolved sound that puts their experimental ways in a camp of one. Slamming into the listener with a cacophony of rough noise elements, crashing industrial heaviness, and synth layers. Then, with a few minutes left, sharper melody delivered in relaxed fashion arrives and carefully eases the listener out. It’s maddening. Brilliantly maddening, and I’m not sure there’s a better term that sums this album (and Sugar Horse) up than that.

Love it, hate it, it’s Sugar Horse and it’s impossible to not pay attention to what they create.

Sugar Horse – Not A Sound in Heaven Track Listing:

1. Fire Graphics
2. Secret Speech
3. Ex-Human Shield
4. History’s Biggest T-Shirts
5. Not A Sound in Heaven
6. Company Town
7. You Can’t Say Dallas Doesn’t Love You

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