Indie bands have been enthusiastically branding themselves after animals for some years now. Fleet Foxes, Foals, Frightened Rabbit and Grizzly Bear are all evidence of this, as are more than a dozen bands with "wolf" in their names - but the humble pony hasn't got much of a look in. As well as conjuring-up images of aspirational eight-year-old girls, the word's appropriation for cockney rhyming slang (a London patois) to signify shoddiness, offers a possible reason why.
This group's decision to add the word "tired" - which is often used to mean hackneyed or bland - to the already questionable "pony" is a perplexing one. Perhaps the name was devised with the intention of scaring away potential listeners?
But thankfully, the alt-country supergroup Tired Pony's debut is not as bad as all that. The project was masterminded by the Northern Irish singer and frontman of arena-hopping rockers Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody, who was "inspired by Wilco, Calexico, Lambchop, Palace, Smog ... bands that look at the darkness in America". The line-up also boasts Peter Buck of REM on mandolin, Belle & Sebastian's drummer Richard Colburn and a host of others - as well as superproducer Jacknife Lee. Despite what their name might suggest, Tired Pony's music is not shoddy or hackneyed, although it can be a little bland.
The record starts slowly with Northwestern Skies, a ghostly, banjo-driven folk ballad. With the presence of Buck and REM's long-term collaborator Scott McCaughty, this album bears the distinctive fingerprint of the US giants; indeed, the opening track sees Lightbody sounding stunningly reminiscent of Michael Stipe during the band's IRS years.
The second track, Get on the Road, features the Snow Patrol man duetting with the actress and occasional singer Zooey Deschanel. The duo's voices work well together on the mournful pastoral tune, but then it gets rather similar to Lightbody's other band, with a few unimaginative minutes of rocking out at the end.
Dead American Writers is the catchiest thing here, with touches of Neil Young and Crazy Horse at their most energetic. Lightbody's occasional Celtic touches shine through the love song That Silver Necklace but for an album that is intended to be a departure from his day job, there are times when The Place We Ran From sounds almost indistinguishable from a Snow Patrol release.
With a cast of alt-country and rock veterans, the musicianship feels thoroughly authentic and accomplished throughout and Lee's productions lends the record both warmth and chilliness at the same time. Colburn gives a perfectly understated rhythmic performance, never stealing the limelight but never shying away from it either - as fans of the Glasgow group have come to expect by now.
The album's loveliest moment is undoubtedly the weary Appalachian lullaby, I am a Landslide, which sees Lightbody's countryman and previous collaborator Iain Archer singing. Not unlike Get on the Road, this song proves that emotional songwriting is at the centre of this album, but also that the group is at its most effective when collaborating closely, rather than just making-up the numbers as Lightbody's new backing band.
Ryan Adams
Heartbreaker (2000)
Adams was just 27 when he recorded this remarkable solo debut, a glorious salute to his influences (Steve Earle, Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan) with guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, and a searing response to the end of a relationship, which like all great country records underlines that universal truth: love hurts.
Bonnie Prince Billy
I See A Darkness (1999)
This landmark album from Louisville's dark balladeer Will Oldham, matches traditional Appalachian folk with a contemporary lo-fi sparseness to create a lyrical, brooding masterpiece. The title track, re-recorded by Johnny Cash on his American Recordings III album, still astonishes a decade on.
Calexico and Iron & Wine
In The Reins (2005)
A great introduction to two of the best exponents of contemporary Americana: Sam Beam's Texan lullabies, set over Calexico's dusty, hazy arrangements of slide guitars, brushed drums and dazzling mariachi flourishes is a modern desert classic.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
HOSTS
T20 WORLD CUP
2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland
ODI WORLD CUP
2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh
CHAMPIONS TROPHY
2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
HWJN
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More on animal trafficking
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
