EP – Ian M. Hale
Greetings From San Francisco
As a calling card, Ian M Hale’s debut EP, Greetings From San Francisco, is hard to fault. Announcing himself to the world with an unrepentant ‘here I am, now what are you going to do with me?’ Hale is staking his claim as the country’s most exciting singer-songwriter. Each song showcases a different side of the 26-year-old’s musical personality and urges the listener to delve deeper and discover more about this fascinating performer.
Opening track Don’t Say You Love Me has a pounding quality which drives the song along, and the combination of Hale’s echoey falsetto and the dirty, crunching guitars makes sure that the song delivers surprises until the end.
If a mark of a good pop song is how much of an ohrwurm it is, then the fact that a different song from Hale’s music has been playing in my head every morning for the last week, is a clear sign that this guy has a rock-solid ear for a melody.
Title track San Francisco involves Hale, a guitar, a little backing and not much else… and it’s utterly compelling. Singing above his natural register with a heartbreaking crack in his voice, Hale has created a soundtrack for the cross-country Greyhound trip you’ve always dreamed of, and this short but sweet tune will dig its way into your brain and not let go until you go and work out the chords for yourself.
Despite moving between styles, there is a folky, almost pastoral vibe which threads through all of Hale’s music but far from becoming over-familiar it’s acts as an aural bubble bath which complements his voice absolutely perfectly and beguiles the listener.
It’s hard to pinpoint Ian M. Hale’s influences as different possiblities present themselves upon each listen. Is that a little Prince I hear? Maybe… And are those chord progressions really inspired by Don’t Believe The Truth-era Oasis? Greetings from San Francisco is a continuous surprise.
While listening to Everybody Knows – another hugely catchy song – you think you know where are you, but then a curveball comes your way as crushingly mournful strings push themselves front and centre - the cello giving the song a subtext that lay completely hidden until that moment and the floating backing vocals revealing themselves and providing an almost ethereal quality.
If this is just a taste of what Ian M. Hale is capable of, then his promise of an album sometime in 2009 is a truly exciting propostition. Take note Blunt et al; this is how an English singer-songwriter should really sound.
Find out more about Ian M. Hale here.
Buy Greetings From San Francisco now on itunes.
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