Hem - Disc of the day

Hem
Rabbit Songs

(Waveland, 2000)

Brooklyn folk collective’s debut. Lullabies for the urban sophisticate booze-hound.

Like Will Oldham antimatter, Hem’s songwriter Dan Messe employs traditional American pastoral influences in songs so humble and pretty they must surely be Disney-approved. His lyrics, sung by the honey-voiced Sally Ellyson (Karen Carpenter innocent, as luxuriant as Alison Krauss) have a grace and clarity that belies the often sombre subject matter. When I Was Drinking is an abstinent lament for a lover cast out with old vices, gently picked out in chiming pedal steel, piano and wheezing harmonium. Even when the arrangements are swelled by a small orchestra they’re unobtrusively employed with Elllyson’s voice always to the fore. The heartsore Stupid Mouth Shut is a case in point: violin, viola, cello, clarinet, flute and oboe don’t detract from lyrical lucidity of an opening line like “The sidewalk bends where your house ends/like the neighbourhood is on its knees”. Enough to make Bonnie Prince Billy swoon.

Jenny Bulley

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 30/05/2008

Further Listening

Hem - Eveningland (Rounder)

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (Decca)

Neko Case – Blacklisted (Bloodshot)

SUGGEST YOUR OWN DISC OF THE DAY ON OUR MESSAGE BOARD HERE, OR, MORE PRIVATELY, HERE!

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You've only just discovered this now??? It's been out for years! - If you like Hem you might like Cowboy Junkies too.

Posted by Harry at 1:55 PM GMT 02/06/2008 Report Abuse

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