On “Excalibur,” the second single from her upcoming self-titled debut EP, New York City’s Horsepower—aka Charlotte Weinman—emerges with a rare combination of poetic precision and sweeping emotional scale. Produced alongside her brother Noah Weinman (of Runner, and known for his work with Skullcrusher and Odie Leigh), the track leans into the louder, more anthemic edge of Horsepower’s range. It’s an indie rock slow burn that resists melodrama, instead drawing its power from the clarity and control of its emotional unraveling.
Following the more tender debut single “Are You Blushing”—a track rooted in quiet emotional resonance—“Excalibur” expands the project’s sonic and emotional range, revealing Horsepower’s ability to shift seamlessly between introspective indie and sweeping, cinematic rock.
From the opening lines, “You were wrong / About who you are / All this theatrical fog / All this stadium rock,” Weinman pulls back the curtain on a relationship built on illusion. The song traces the aftermath of a slow dissolution, not with rage but with resignation, as its most cutting moments are delivered with devastating calm. What makes “Excalibur” stand out is how it builds—not with a predictable crescendo, but with a natural, unhurried momentum that feels more like a tidal pull than a wave crash.
The production mirrors this emotional arc: subtle textures and restrained instrumentation stretch and expand as the track progresses, giving it a widescreen indie-rock feel without ever overwhelming the core of the song—its lyrics. As the song reaches its late climax, it doesn’t explode. Instead, it exhales, and lands on a line that feels like a gut punch wrapped in quiet acceptance: “Happy birthday / Happy new year / You let me down.” It’s both mundane and monumental, the kind of lyric that evokes not just one moment of disappointment, but the slow ache of repeated letdowns over time.
Weinman’s voice—clear, weary, and unforced—carries these lines with a steady hand. She doesn’t dramatize the heartbreak; she just holds it out in front of us, letting it speak for itself. The song’s title, “Excalibur,” evokes mythical imagery, but it’s not about heroism; it’s about the strange violence of personal betrayal, the surreal act of someone turning away when you were still trying. “Why would you plunge a sword into the belly of a lake?” she asks—an unforgettable image that suggests not just pain, but senselessness.
If there’s a romantic comedy ending to this song, it’s one where the protagonist chooses solitude over illusion, stepping into her own story with bittersweet clarity. “Excalibur” doesn’t ask to be cathartic; it simply is. And in doing so, Horsepower positions herself as a voice to watch: sharp-eyed, emotionally honest, and sonically unafraid.
This is the kind of track that doesn’t shout for your attention. Instead, it earns it, slowly and completely. And once it’s over, it lingers.
Horsepower’s debut self-titled EP arrives June 27.
