Leila El Sabbagh
Sports Editor
After the short time of two months, Canadian indie/bedroom pop band Men I Trust, has released their second extension of “Equus” albums: “Equus Caballus.” This is the band’s sixth studio album since they formed in 2014.
Using Latin, the band gave the album the identity of a horse. “Equus” is standard Latin for horse and “Caballus” was used to refer to a less prestigious horse, like a workhorse.
The full album runtime is roughly around 40 minutes with a total of 13 tracks. Their “Equus” collection runs a little shorter compared to other studio albums produced. “Oncle Jazz,” which was released in 2019, has 24 tracks and a run time of one hour and 11 minutes.
Right off the bat I knew I would enjoy this album. “To Ease You” is a perfect first track to introduce you to Men I Trust.
“To Ease You” really encapsulates the essence of the band. The use of synthesizer accompanied by lead singer Emmanuelle Proulx’s soft vocals gave familiarity to the song making it one of the most enjoyable ones on the album.
It was almost as if Proulx was personally comforting you, helping you mend your worries with the lyrics, “It’s my turn now to hush/We’ll be just fine/And in time/Could you be holding them/Leave your home behind/ Use somebody, to gently ease you to sleep.”
Another notable song on the album was “Ring of Past (2025).” The song was first released in 2023 as a single, sort of missing an identity, as fans awaited their next album release. The band first teased a new album during their 2023 Trilogy Tour.
A few other songs released as singles fit into Equus Caballus seamlessly with its upbeat bass tones layered with a crying synthesizer that sounds like how you would describe longing. This can be especially identified in “Husk (2025).”
“Carried Away” I felt, has the most impactful lyrics whilst a melodic melancholy helps you reflect on any time you’ve ever been really immersed in a toxic situation. “Fear shuts your every effort/Clouding your better judgement (In the way)/You carry on reluctant (Carried away)/To bed where you lay down hurt”.
I was able to identify a few similarities that this album had with different bands that helped me make connections as to why I enjoyed this album so much.
“The Better Half” used a hard and easily identifiable bassline and included echoed vocals that felt very familiar to something The Marias would produce. The introduction of “Eris (Wait)” seemed a lot like early Crumb work with more synthesizer tones that call out to the listener.
Overall, “Equus Caballus” is the more enjoyable release out of the two “Equus” albums. I really enjoyed the fact that it sounded a lot more like classic Men I Trust, whereas “Equus Asinus” felt more of the band branching out into a different genre.
If I were to rate this album, I would rate it an 8.5/10. The gentle yet energetic vibe to the album as a whole is what I really enjoyed. Meaningful lyrics mixed with the Polyphonic rhythms of bass, guitar, drums and synthesizers tied what seemed to be a self-destructing Proulx to mindfulness in the eye of her own hurricane.
Leila El Sabbagh can be reached at leila.elsabbagh@laverene.edu.
Leila El Sabbagh is the sports editor for the Campus Times. She is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism who aspires to be a sports broadcaster. She has previously served as a staff writer for the Campus Times.
