Hotels - Where Hearts Go Broke (Album)
When you review album after album after album, you seem to get so tired of listening that the music all begins to sounds like the same pap that comes along on Mix106.5. It’s nice, then – no, its ravishing to get a good an album as Hotels' second effort Where Hearts Go Broke.
Described as everything from sci-fi pop to nu-gaze via a bunch of genres created just for the occasion, the album brings synth-pop to
the 21st century. Hotels is a band founded and focused around Blake Madden, originally from New York. The core of the band came together in Seattle in 2006, but apparently exists in two different forms, both featuring Madden but on either side of the North American continent. Their first album, Thankyou For Choosing… was greatly influenced by gothic synth pop and Joy Division.
Instead, this album is a far brighter affair, described as “dream pop” by Time Out New York, fusing “surf, goth and new wave.” Listening to the album, there is indeed a definite hazy atmosphere starting from the first track and single Hydra, but continuing through till one of the high points of the album, third track Leilani, a dreamy, danceable song where the poor, mumbled lyrics are of little consequence. Port of Saints is a completely different affair, with Maddens vocals closer to Ian Curtis’ and featuring a more distinct post-punk guitar. The Maudlin returns to the minimalist dance beats of the album openers, and perhaps, just maybe, I can see where sci-fi pop comes from. The Heart That Hears Like A Bat is another atmospheric song, but if there is one critique about the album, it must be that by the time you get to track eight, the songs seem to merge; they aren’t distinct or interesting alone but only as part of the ‘album’ – similar to many Talk Talk albums which have much of the same ‘atmosphere’ as those of Hotels.
Where Hearts Go Broke is interesting, and definitely one of the better albums I’ve heard this year, and while it’s probably not something I’d listen to continuously or fit in between my Talk Talk and Alice Coltrane anytime soon, there’s potential for a great band, with a varied sound to make its way to the musical fore. Have a listen, then hang around for album three.
