Hotel Lights
Firecracker People (Bar/ None)
By Kim Newman
Published: October 4th, 2008 | 10:00am
It’s not surprising that the music of Hotel Lights, which is basically former Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee, has been featured on television’s Grey’s Anatomy. The band’s music is the quiet and unassuming mood-filling pop that becomes a hit on Adult Album Alternative radio stations. Think Ron Sexsmith — only with less of a falsetto. For Firecracker People, Jessee assembles a tight rhythm section (Zeke Hutchins and Jay Brown of Tift Merritt’s Band, and producer Alan Weatherhead) to perform his collection of somber songs.
Firecracker People is full of pretty and lush ballads that sometimes dip their toe in alt-country territory. Check album opener “Blue Always Finds Me,” which utilizes a pedal steel guitar to accentuate its dreamy sadness. The atmosphere and tempo barely varies throughout the tracks (except for “Norina” and “Nobody Let You Down”), resulting in a warm — but static and low — sound whose heavy piano adds texture to the melancholic fray. The use of piano is fitting, which is why the title track, a gorgeous lament about lost love, recalls Jessee’s previous outfit — as does “Amelia Bright,” a track originally penned for Bens Folds Five.
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Hotel Lights’ official site
Hotel Lights’ MySpace page
Issue #27
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