FORM Presents
The last year and a half has been a period of extremes for Tor Maries, aka Bristol-based songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Billy Nomates. The tour of her previous album, 2023’s critically acclaimed CACTI, culminated in a Glastonbury performance that received enough misogynistic abuse online for Maries to request that the footage be taken down. In reality, though, that was the least of her worries.
Behind the scenes Maries was in the process of deciding to manage herself, evolving Billy Nomates from a solo project into a band, and looking after her dad, who had entered end of life care with Parkinsons. The following year brought devastating news when her dad died in July. All the while, she was working on her upcoming third album Metalhorse (released on 16 May 2025) – a change of direction galvanised by the challenges surrounding it, and her favourite body of work to date. “From the second I started working on this album, every other month has brought this massive life shift that has either been weirdly magical and brilliant, or quite the opposite.” Maries says. “What I’m really looking for, now, is something in between.”
Produced by James Trevascus and recorded at Paco Loco in Seville, Metalhorse is the first Billy Nomates album to be made in a studio and with a full band. Metalhorse is a concept album revolving around the image of a dilapidated fun fair, representing the tumultuousness of life – risk and pleasure, danger and exhilaration.
Metalhorse begs the listener to find their own funfair. It might not be the loss of someone significant, or trying to find a foothold in an industry in crisis, but there will always be things that feel perilous. At the same time, you have to marvel at the lights while they’re still on. “I don’t want people to come to Metalhorse and leave feeling unhopeful. There has to be something that keeps you there, or else you’d just get out of the park,” Maries says. Dancing with those feelings of uncertainty and joy, Metalhorse is awash with both pain and perseverance.
VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, Auditorium
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