by Nick Levi (@nick.g.levi)
It’s more than possible that, before reading this review, you’ve never heard of Rusty Santos. However, his résumé is far broader than many people may realize. The Fresno-born musician and producer began his career in the Bay Area punk and underground scene before a trip to Berlin reportedly introduced him to artists like Cluster and minimal techno, pushing him away from straight guitar music and toward something more experimental and collage-like.
Around the beginning of the millennium, Santos became deeply embedded in the early DIY psych scene. He became closely linked with Animal Collective and helped shape their breakthrough album Sung Tongs (2004), producing and engineering its strange blend of acoustic guitars, vocal harmonies, and eerie sonic textures. He also worked on the reissue of Danse Manatee and later collaborated extensively with Panda Bear, producing the landmark solo album Person Pitch and 2019’s Buoys. Beyond that, Santos has collaborated with Born Ruffians, Owen Pallett, DJ Rashad, Beach House, Weyes Blood, TV on the Radio, and Grizzly Bear—moving comfortably between freak folk, dream pop, footwork, avant-jazz, and experimental electronic music.
Parallel to his production work, Santos has also made his own records, often more introspective than his production credits might suggest. Projects like High Reality, New Wave in California, and now Psycho Horses lean into dream logic, spirituality, fractured pop songwriting, and heavily processed vocals.
If one word could describe his latest album, Psycho Horses, it would be intimate. Every track sounds personal yet texturally rich: the blend of acoustic guitars, ghostly vocal treatments, synth haze, and subtle production details feels handmade rather than polished. At times, it feels like Nick Drake met John Frusciante for a minimalist but thoughtful recording session. Santos’ simple musical patterns and imperfect acoustic guitar work—where you can often hear fingertips sliding across the strings, as if you were listening to a live performance rather than a studio album—are a breath of fresh air in today’s perfection-obsessed music scene.
Still, minimalism doesn’t mean oversimplicity. Even though the lyrics seem technically grounded, beneath their simplicity lies a portrait of emotional instability, shifting from panic attacks to dreamlike dissociation and a spiritual search for peace. After all, Santos describes the album as his “antidote to sleepwalking,” explaining that he wrote the songs in dreams and recorded them when awake.
However, the intimacy is also the album’s biggest weakness: by the fourth track, Santos’ ghostly vocal effects and acoustic patterns begin to blur together, making otherwise thoughtful songs feel less distinct than they should. Sure, songs like “Party with Ben” and “I Want for You to Feel Alright” are rhythmically distinct, but the echoing vocals remain. Ultimately, Psycho Horses is a floating, half-dreamed, surreal album that may not dominate year-end lists, but it could become a rewarding listen for fans of Person Pitch or early Animal Collective.