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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
It's written into the logic of creativity that something like urban clatter can create calm. That's Hem. On Rabbit Songs, the Brooklyn quartet makes acoustic latticework of guitars, mandolins, piano, an array of orchestral instruments and the floating voice of Sally Ellyson, which is equally suited to whisper-quiet tunes like the brief opener "Lord, Blow Out the Moon Please", as it is to "Stupid Mouth Shut" and the band's boisterous rendition of "The Cuckoo". Hem's mellowness follows a post-punk New Age bend in the neo-folk road (especially on the sentimental "Burying Song"), but mostly the lyrics recall early Cowboy Junkies, the Hank Dogs and the Be Good Tanyas. "All That I'm Good For" combines pedal steel with a full complement of strings to create an almost Lambchop level of rustic richness, while Ellyson's voice goes from absolute glassy-lake calm to heights Sarah McLachlan would recognise. --Andrew Bartlett
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By Rob Telford
Format:Audio CD
Country music is officially sad. But usually people mean that as an opposite to cool, and not in the sense of being hauntingly melancholy like this production (the best word for it) is.
I first heard this at a poetry recital, as interval music! It seemed to fit the laid-back occasion and doesn't get tiresome or sentimental on repeated listening. It's extravagant to say it, but the singer Sally Ellyson is my favourite vocalist of all time, simply because she sounds like an angel. The instrumentation is rich and powerfully emotive, but still seems to only provide a backdrop for her startling voice. The lyrics are also incredibly evocative, of a down-beat Americana that seems to be only witnessed through mainstream acts like Neil Young and the like in Britain. This deserves a wider audience, but you delusionally want to keep it as your own little masterpiece of a secret - this is raw emotion, tenderness and peacefulness personified in one voice.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Not many people have heard of Hem (I found out when a friend played me "Betting on Trains" from a sampler with Uncut magazine) but this is a fantastic record. The songs have a timeless quality - beautiful tunes, thoughtful lyrics, carefully thought-out arrangements, great singing by Sally Ellyson. Every track is good and you can play it again and again and keep hearing new things. If you like stuff at the country/folk end of Americana, but like to hear a bit of originality as well, I can almost guarantee you will love this. Oh, and I was lucky enough to see them on their first short UK tour, and they're great live too.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I discovered Hem's Rabbit Songs album when I heard 'Half an acre' on Robert Elms' radio show. Sally Ellyson's voice had me captivated in an instant and the poetry of the song and the exquisitely harmonious arrangement stopped me dead in my tracks. I went straight out and bought the album, little realising it would prove to be such a work of complex yet pared-down beauty, full of lilting emotion and humanity. It's captured my heart for sure! Do buy this - it'll be a favourite, I promise.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I came across this lot through a gorgeous sample track on a magazine cd and, since buying the album, have been spreading the word like a preacher.
Easy comparisons would be Cowboy Junkies and the Be Good Tanyas ( fans of either should not hesitate to buy this immediately ) but that's a rather trite and unfair summing up of the riches on offer.
Sally Ellyson sings with the delicate precision of a Whippet picking it's way across nightingale boards. The sound is laid back folk country, with some lovely mandolin work against a rhythm section of stand up bass and brushed percussion. Special mention needs to be made of Dan Messe's fine piano work -he writes the songs too.
Live, they are quietly sensational to listen to and exceedingly friendly to meet.
I've lost count of the number of people I've turned on to Hem -it's just such an instantly loveable album. Do yourself a very big favour indeed.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I was driving back from Belgium a few weeks ago, depressed because I'd missed the Rotterdam ferry, and I tuned in to BBC Radio 2 Saturday night Bob Harris show. He played "Leave me here" by HEM and I forgot about the misery of English motorways and couldn't wait to find out more about HEM. Been playing "Rabbit Songs" non-stop since. First impressions were a mixture of Beth Orton, whispered female vocals like Cowboy Junkies circa "Slow Sad Waltzes" and strangely "Astral Weeks" ( there are lots of cellos and woodwind, but also pedal steel guitars,mandolins,pianos and flutes}. Haunting melodies, written by Dan Messe, beautiful singing by Sally Ellyson, I still haven't a clue who HEM are but I hope they tour the UK sometime soon.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By MM
Format:Audio CD
I've now played this in the car, on my main hi-fi, late at night just before going to sleep - it suits all mooods. When it ends you're dissappointed. So what I do is play it again - my best buy in 2003. All the references to Be Good Tanyas et al are close, but Hem aren't clones. Instantly familiar yet strangely different.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By antom
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Hauntingly beautiful mix of pastoral songs, folk-pop and country. Piano, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and gentle singing. A masterpiece.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'Rabbitsongs' is one of those albums that will satisfy a refined and eclectic musical palette. The band hails from NYC and has produced a stunning debut with the care of a craftsman. From the opening track, a short demo tape which Sally Ellyson submitted by way of an audition, to the final track, this album is a tapestry of rural Americana without the whooping' and hollering. Well-structured and orchestrated tunes, with heart-aching lyrics are garnished by one of the sweetest voices you will ever hear. This is an album full of lullabies of sadness and despair, and yet hope and joy seem to shine through in the exquisite production. Some of the instrumental tracks remind me of Aaron Copeland, some of the vocal tracks remind me of angels. This album is a joy from beginning to end, but the outstanding tracks are 'When I was Drinking' a lovelorn tale of excess and hedonism, with a great lyrical twist at the end, 'Half an Acre', and the beautiful 'Idle (the rabbit song)'which reminds me of being with someone you love, someone who loves you, but neither of you are prepared to recognise that love...but we should all waste some time with someone! Buy this album and fall in love to it, fall in love with it, but whatever you do, fall in love.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous - a really special album
I've owned this album for several years and still play it regularly. It is, as another reviewer has said, hauntingly beautiful. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2011 by Andromeda
5.0 out of 5 stars
I can't keep my mouth shut any longer
This is an absolutely gorgeous album and still Hem's finest in my opinion. Sally Ellyson's vocals are shown off to their brilliant best, from the breathless whisper of 'Sailor' to... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2007 by Teazle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful !
This album is sublime! It is one of those timeless albums which is beautifully evocative with unique lyrics and richly textured melodies.
Published on 1 Dec 2005 by "emily3458"
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Firm Fan
Athough the obvious similarities between this debut album and six pence non the richer aside there =great beuty to be found herein. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2005 by MANGO
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet, sweet music!
This album is a must-have, the band come together to produce a fantastic 16 track cd. Sally's voice is enchanting and would warm even a stone-heart! Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2002 by roslyn craig
5.0 out of 5 stars
That Bob Harris is costing me a fortune ..!!!
I can't say a great deal. I heard a track on this album a couple of weeks ago and wrote it down to buy in the future... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2002 by colin.morgan@galagroup.co.uk
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