An Horse Pick Tegan And Sara, New Pornographers Producer For Sophomore Album

An Horse singer/guitarist Kate Cooper sounds particularly excited when she talks about recording the band's upcoming as-yet-untitled sophomore album this summer, mainly because she can't wait to work with producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan And Sara, The New Pornographers).

The Australian duo, who are completed by drummer/singer Damon Cox, will head to Vancouver to record the follow-up to their 2008 Rearrange Beds debut with Redekopp after they complete a string of U.S. dates with Kaki King and play through Germany.

"He's worked on a bunch of amazing records," Cooper says by phone from her home in Montreal. "He actually mixed Rearrange Beds, and we just kind of developed a relationship with him, and he's excited and we're excited, so it'll be good fun."

Cooper and Cox began working on the album last summer in Melbourne, Australia, where Cox now lives. (Cooper recently moved to Montreal to concentrate on touring North America, and most of her friends live in the city.) The duo spent three weeks working on it almost non-stop, and Cooper says it's pretty much written.

"We'd just go into a room every day and write, just like going to work, trying to keep a routine," she says. "It was really nice, just kind of being in the same place and being able to finally write. It's impossible to write on the road, and we love doing what we do, which is being creative."

An Horse have been on the road a lot over the last few years. Rearrange Beds was digitally released on iTunes in December 2008 and was available in stores in March 2009. Cooper and Cox have spent most of the last two years on the road, touring with Tegan And Sara, Death Cab For Cutie, and now, King.

That's led to some buzz around the band, and their sudden popularity has prompted some to say they seemed to come out of nowhere.

Guess what?

If you said, "That's not the case," +1 for you.

Cooper was a member of Brisbane, Australia indie rock band Iron On from 2002 to 2009, while Cox plays with Intercooler. The two met while working in a record store in Brisbane, and decided to play music together.

But that didn't happen for over a year. Once it did, Cooper says she and Cox wrote several songs together during their first practice, and then started thinking seriously about focusing on the band much more.

"If you had told me two years ago that I would be living in Montreal and playing in this band, I wouldn't believe you," Cooper says. "So I'm really surprised.

"It's kind of amazing and a lot of the band's we've been lucky to tour with, we either met at the record store we worked at, or we listened to at the record store we worked at.

"So it's a little bizarre sometimes, but then you kind of get so used to your life being bizarre that everything kind of stops being bizarre and becomes quite normal."

You can see An Horse here:

April 23 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa w/ Hannah Georgas
April 24 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks w/ Dan Mangan
April 25 Peterborough, ON @ The Legendary Red dog w/ Hannah Georgas
April 26 Toronto, ON @ The Garrison w/ Hannah Georgas
April 28 Philadelphia, PA @ Theater Of The Living Arts w/ Kaki King
April 29 Washington, DC @ 9:30 w/ Kaki King
April 30 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle w/ Kaki King
May 1 Atlanta, GA @ Criminal Records w/ Local Natives (in-store)
May 1 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse w/ Kaki King
May 2 Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley w/ Kaki King
May 4 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom w/ Kaki King
May 5 Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark w/ Kaki King
May 6 Chicago, IL @ Park West w/ Kaki King
May 7 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon w/ Kaki King
May 8 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre w/ Kaki King
May 9 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room w/ Kaki King
May 11 Boulder, CO @ The Fox Theatre w/ Kaki King
May 12 Denver, CO @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom w/ Kaki King
May 14 Seattle, WA @ Neumos w/ Kaki King
May 15 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom w/ Kaki King
May 16 Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall w/ Kaki King
May 19 Reno, NV @ The Knitting Factory w/ Kaki King
May 20 Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre w/ Kaki King
May 21 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore w/ Kaki King
May 22 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre w/ Kaki King
May 23 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern w/ Kaki King
May 25 Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse w/ Kaki King
May 28 Neustrelitz, Germany @ Immergut Festival
May 29 Bermen, Germany @ Tower
May 30 Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
June 1 Frankfurt, Germany @ Yellowstage
June 2 Cologne, Germany @ Gebaude 9
June 3 Oberhausen Ob Eck, Germany @ Druckluft
June 4 Hamburg, Germany, Molotow
June 5 Munster, Germany @ Gleis 22
June 8 Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret
June 9 Kelowna, BC @ Habitat
June 10 Calgary, AB @ Republik
June 11 Edmonton, AB @ Brixx Bar
June 12 Saskatoon, SK @ Vangelis Tavern
June 13 Regina, SK @ The Exchange
June 15 Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre
July 16 Eching, Germany @ Freizeitgelande Eching (Sonnenrot)
July 17 Grafenhainichen, Germany @ Ferropolis (MELT Festival)
July 18 Cuxhaven, Germany @ Seeflughafen (Deichbrand Festival)
Aug. 20 Crickhowell, Wales @ Glanusk Park (Green Man Festival)