Psychedelic rockers Mercury Rev return with its new studio album Born Horses (Bella Union) out  September 6. Today the band has unveiled the new single “Ancient Love,” an enchanting celestial opus. The band shares, “What we are today comes from our thoughts and perceptions of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life for tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind which originates from ancient love.”

Born Horses is vocally inspired by the spirits of art minimalist Tony Conrad (LaMonte Young’s Dream Syndicate w/ John Cale and a close friend to The Velvet Underground) and beat poet Robert Creeley (one of the most influential American poets of the 20th century and an associate of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the Black Mountain poets), acolytes of progressive thought and action who both taught at the University at Buffalo, the city where the band was formed.

The album title, named after the majestically rippling sixth track “Born Horses”, was chosen because its words resonate through the entire record, encompassing the idea of flight (“I dreamed we were born horses waiting for wings”) and the phrase “You and I” that appears at different junctures on the album. This is not the concept of two separate people, but two parts of oneself.  

Additionally, Mercury Rev have announced news of international tour dates including an Autumn European tour and further UK shows in early 2025. Full list of dates here.