TOLEDO - Jockeys Of Love LP (Red Vinyl)

Label: Telefono

Jockeys of Love finds two young men at the precipice of recognizable greatness, a rare moment of hidden stardom before the ice thaws around them. There are two simple things that the boys do well… really well, actually. They are great songwriters and great producers. Almost nobody is both of those things.

TOLEDO’s sophomore EP swirls around, the vocals are ghostly without lacking presence, and the whole thing maintains a careful balance of detachment and closeness. Jockeys does not sit within its own sadness, but instead looks upon it from afar and plays with it like a deck of cards. In doing so, TOLEDO retains emotional poignancy without making it the only selling point, and without reveling in the triteness of an outpour.

And, among other musical tricks, their instrumentation is always in the service of their vocal melodies, sitting pristine like a gem amidst a floating maze. TOLEDO thoroughly focuses in upon an exacting musical vision; there is only positive building, climbing closer and closer towards the sublime.