First came the donkey, and then the horse. Canadian indie rock/dream pop outfit Men I Trust released only two studio albums between 2016 and 2024, but woke up in a big way this year, matching that output in just three months with a duo of connected projects in 2025: “Equus Asinus” and “Equus Caballus.” “Early in the writing and recording process, we realized we had a collection of songs with distinct energies yet equally meaningful to us,” the band wrote on X in March . “It became clear that we wanted to release them as two separate entities both from the same genus.” The first was March’s “ Equus Asinus ” (the scientific name for donkey), a 14-song collection of atmospheric, acoustic-led tunes – immaculately produced, but not the band’s most memorable material. Forming its current iteration nine years ago, the trio has never been the most experimental or bold, often filling that necessary yet understated role in the music ecosystem of inoffensive background music that...