Published on Apr 21, 2006
When last we visited the boys of Hotel Lights, they
had self-released their quietly
magnificent self-titled 2004 debut disc. Two years have passed,
and there’s news, all of it good. First, there’s this tasty little
hors d’oeuvre of an EP on North Carolina’s own indie label Sit-n-Spin
Records, and then there’s the pick-up and reissuance of
Hotel Lights by indie darlings Bar/None Records
(The Sharp Things, Petra Haden, Freedy Johnston, The Mendoza Line,
etc.). HL can also now be found on iTunes.
As lights go on all over and this EP’s opener “Let Me
Be The One” comes into focus, we find the band’s chief songwriter,
Ben Folds Five drummer-turned-doe-eyed-frontman Darren Jessee,
crooning gently over the rich bed of soft intriguing noise laid
down by bandmates Chris Badger (keyboards), Roger Gupton (bass),
Miguel Urbiztondo (drums) and Alan Weatherhead (guitar).
Co-produced by Weatherhead and the band,
Goodnightgoodmorning is another intriguing compendium of
downbeat murmurings that mix acoustic guitar, otherworldly synth
textures and minimalist, precise electric guitar, bass and drums.
Defying all attempts at labeling, it’s gently hypnotic, richly
resonant, and subtly subversive.
As for individual tracks, “Let Me Be The One” hums
with soft urgency; “Talking To Lisa” shimmers with disappointment
and synth effects; and “Happy And Glad” manages to be bitter and
uplifting and clever all at once (“You said everyone’s a chord, and
I was C major”). Closer “Another Year” adds strings and various
retro effects, approaching the tunefulness (and quirkiness) of an
Abbey-Road era McCartney piano ballad.
The juxtaposition of Jesse’s world-weary vocals and
acoustic strums with Badger’s quirky, surrealistic synth blips,
bleeps and washes once again impresses with the emotional character
and shadings it conveys. Hotel Lights’ music is all about
atmosphere, and they’ve figured out how to keep it fresh and
interesting, a little Peter Gabriel one minute, a little Bright
Eyes the next.
As a whole, these six tunes don’t so much expand the
HL sound as crystallize it. Gauzy, oblique, keening and moving,
Goodnightgoodmorning will surely keep your appetite up until
the next HL full-length.
[Visit Hotel Lights online at www.hotellights.net]