Ian M Hale's debut album is released this Friday. We take a listen.
Ever since I heard the opening song, 'Don’t Say You Love Me' has been echoing round my head, on the verge of spilling out into the street. Sometimes a snippet escapes under my breath, sounding wholly bastardised in my tuneless mouth. The song is a sticker, a sure-fire hit, a nugget of sweet pop genius which you should digest, right away.
“Don’t say you love me/ I’ll take it much too seriously.
It’s not a free word/ It comes with so much gravity.”
It kicks off the debut album of a certain Ian M Hale. A London-based singer-songwriter, Hale’s multifarious work has been ratcheting up the airwaves via radio DJs endowed with good taste. ‘Successor’ has been a long time coming. It follows his two EPs – ‘Greetings from San Francisco’ and ‘Loss’ – both of which hinted at the man’s brilliance. And now, with the release of his full-length album, it is obvious that Hale possesses the magic ingredient: that indefinable quality which makes a song sparkle and stay with you, strumming gently at your quivering heartstrings.
Hale has an incredible lightness of touch, and a poetic sense for a striking melody. The songs – for all their softness – carry a darkness within them. It’s expansive and beautiful folk-pop, threaded with the range of Hale’s influences. His lyrics are original but also have the mote of something older; the shadows of the artists he admires move deftly just beyond each note.
‘Successor’ has many elements. Each song has it's own distinct identity. At times upbeat, there are also moments of reflection, sweetness, melancholy, vulnerability, heartache. The entire album is underpinned by a very raw intimacy, an immediacy which lifts the music from your stereo to Hale playing in your living room. The album takes its name from his various influences – “It’s like a little nod to all of the people that I respect” he says. They are as disparate as The Beach Boys, Kool and The Gang, Talking Heads and Prince – but his sound is unique. Folk pop which switches easily from the bluesy groove of ‘Don’t Say You Love Me' to the classic sound of first single ‘Desire’; the lo-fi tones of ‘Greetings From San Francisco’ to the chiming clarity of ‘Suddenly It’s You’ – written by his songwriter uncle Keith Hale.
This album cements and deepens what he touched on with his previous material – it’s the work of a musician coming into his own. A little bit of heaven distilled into a voice and a guitar. Heartfelt, dazzlingly fresh, open and brilliant. It resonates.
'Successor' is released on May 24th on Wax.
The launch party is this Friday 21st at Questron Mark Bar, Stoke Newington.
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