- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Hospitality
Album: Hospitality
Label: Merge
Playtime: 32:54 min
Genre: Indie
URL: http://www.allmusic.com/album/hospitality-r2369228/review
Rip date: 2012-02-05
Street date: 2012-01-31
Size: 60.21 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 244 kbps / 4410Hz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
After releasing a well-received EP in 2008, Brooklyn indie pop trio
Hospitality seemingly went into hiding, not letting even a single track
escape. Finally, in early 2012, they resurfaced with a full-length,
self-titled album for Merge that expands on the promise of the EP and delivers
a nice combo of sophisticated wit, musical surprises, and emotional punch.
It's something bands like Camera Obscura and the Concretes are/were able to
achieve again and again, and Hospitality shares much with these two bands.
First thing would be a vocalist, Amber Papini, who sounds a little weird at
first but not in an off-putting way, more in a way that draws you in and
leaves you hanging on each oddly phrased word. Second thing is very catchy
tunes that will have you humming along right way. Papini's songs are
unstoppably charming, with equal doses of free-spirited joy, hard-won
knowledge, and semi-crushing melancholy. She writes about growing up, growing
apart, falling in love, and getting by in a way that is both thoughtful and
revealing, but never self-centered or insular. The third thing would be a
level of musical intelligence and inspiration that lifts them above the hordes
of drab indie lifers they share airspace with, and they have this to spare.
Papini and the group -- drummer Nathan Michel (who also provides keys,
guitars, backing vocals, and co-production) and bassist Brian Betancourt --
play Hospitality with a refined and steady grace that improves greatly on the
bedroom sound of the EP and adds just the right amount of depth to quiet and
thoughtful songs like "Julie" and "Sleepover." The group also does a fine job
of giving the uptempo tracks some pep, like on "All Day Today," which ends the
album in a whoosh of saxophones, clacking percussion, and Papini's breathless
vocals. They also have a nice ability to bounce happily (on the sweet and cute
"Betty Wang") or get your feet moving politely (on the album's best song,
"Friends of Friends," which sounds like the mellowest Delta 5 song ever).
Overall, there is a fine balance of sounds, feelings, and textures on the
album, enough to make Hospitality both a vindication of promise already
displayed by the band and hope for further greatness. That, and it just plain
sounds good.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Eighth Avenue ( 3:53)
02. Friends of Friends ( 3:07)
03. Betty Wang ( 2:13)
04. Julie ( 4:15)
05. The Right Profession ( 1:56)
06. Sleepover ( 2:50)
07. The Birthday ( 3:31)
08. Argonauts ( 5:21)
09. Liberal Arts ( 2:35)
10. All Day Today ( 3:13)
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -