"In a world upside down, they journey through a desert of their own making."
BLUE HORSE OPERA is the new 17-track album by Rick Maddocks, inspired by the climate emergency and spaghetti-western soundtracks. This original song cycle is not an opera opera—it's a horse opera, as in the old slang term for a western film. The songs and instrumentals span genres such as folk, indie, classical and country, evoking vast, surreal landscapes and some surprises along the way. Maddocks, composer and vocalist, also shares guitar duties on the album. He's joined by a dozen of western Canada’s finest musicians, offering a rich and eccentric musical palette on which diverse sounds collide.
JP Carter - trumpet; Dory Hayley - soprano vocals; Stephen Lyons - drums; Liam MacDonald - percussion; Geronimo Mendoza - oboe and English horn; James Meger - bass; Tyson Naylor - keyboards and accordion; Dayna Szyndrowski - flamenco dance; Jon Wood - electric guitar, banjo and lap steel; Joshua Zubot - violin; Leah Abramson and Julia Ulehla - backing vocals.
Years in the making, BLUE HORSE OPERA envisions a world upside down, one in which Canada sits below the US on the map and the blinding desert from old spaghetti westerns has transformed into the toxic oil sands. The lyrical narrative, following the destructive life of an oil baron, unfolds against this desert backdrop, plumbing the environmental and emotional depths. The musical canvas features field recordings and distinctive leitmotifs reappearing across the songs and instrumentals, forming a cohesive, multi-faceted whole. The first single, South of Circumstance, offers an initial glimpse of the album's sonic landscape thanks to its collision of twangy guitar, soprano vocals, trumpet and flamenco dance, among other textures.
Album release date: November 7, 2025
