Effortless pop tunes have always been the
specialty of Brooklyn-based trio Hospitality, and with their most recent
sophomore album Trouble, they once
again showcase how simplistic, yet infectious their music truly can be. In the two years since their self-titled album
debuted, it seems as though the band’s compositions have taken a modest drift
into more somber pieces, however, they still maintain that lustrous electro-pop
listenability.
Across the board, the band’s new 10-song
collection is an experimental venture from the lulling wooze-soaked cloud
“Nightingale” that introduces the album to the trance inducing acoustic
centered jam “Call Me After” that closes Trouble
out. Continuing in the guitar centric fashion of album
closer “Call Me After” is the whimsy and highly contagious “Sunship,” which
decidedly progresses the themes of vulnerability in a fine-spun approach. The
group’s experimental nature on their sophomore album can best be seen on “Last
Words” since it highlights one of the biggest jumps into electronic music they
have so far taken. Intertwining the omnipresent pulsing beats and Papini’s
ambitious vocal style seem to have worked out in Hospitality’s favor for this
particular pursuit.
“I Miss Your Bones” doesn’t beat around the
bush in its stark discussion of seclusion or alienation while dually switching
up the band’s lyrical ingenious by trying out deeper metaphors like “All the stars will twinkle in the mist of the
sea. The black on me will ever seem lost like abyss. And maybe after, when I
return I get what I
miss.” Their endearing lyrical ambiguity coupled with blazing basslines and
garage-rock guitar plucks sell the single’s conviction making it the clear
standout of the album. To say nothing of lead singer Amber Papini’s
swiveling vocal techniques and control on these tracks would merely downplay
her significances in making each song sound unique to the whole Hospitality
atmosphere.
As with
the natural progression of any band Hospitality is still discovering and
continually enhancing their sound. Trouble
is an extension of their growth into more experimental sounds and to be honest
they do it remarkably well. For the most part
their album is a league above the last, which is often a daunting task for artists
to manage in today’s music scene.
Grade: B
