Deer Fellow – Hues
An old gimmick of starting a song with scratchy record ambiance & warm early ‘60s echo on the vocals. Nostalgic for those who remember that sound & had grown immune to the imperfection. The vocals, along with the violin, are ethereal, atmospheric, & lo-fi, but that doesn’t mean it’s not interesting. The Austin-based indie folk-pop duo of Matt Salois & Alyssa Kelly created a pleasant array of melodic soundscapes. Nothing bombastic or pretentious. If you’re going to dance, it’s suitable for late-night last spin around the ballroom floor music. Especially the lovely “Invisible.”
There are 12 artsy melodies in duende fashion that penetrate in a heartfelt way on Hues (Drops May 30/Independent/35:53), their debut self-produced LP. The duo switches off between lead vocals with a tender spirit, persistent in its floating musical showcase. None of the instrumentation fights for the spotlight. It relies on a soothing, pensive interplay. Sometimes a little too much presence with the vocal treatments & electronics. It strips away the obvious harmonic blend the duo is capable of.
More of a chorale intro drips from the opening of “Beautiful Gray,” which finds Ms. Kelly in a fine voice, almost as mysterious as Kate Bush but not quite as intense. There is a mystical This Mortal Coil touch without the progressive rock pokes. All the playing is light, gentle, serene, like satin bedsheets blowing in a cool morning breeze.
There have been artists who have explored these depths before, but Matt & Alyssa manage to add a sincere, sensitive style to theirs. For my taste, electronics don’t elevate the set. It sometimes sounds like they recorded it under a stairway in an old building. The voices have evidence of being well-suited to each other & with instruments like the violin, it should be captured in a more organic setting to fully display their harmonics. The music is basically lush, but that description is bold because some people think it’s lame, or too dreamy, laid-back in a Valium-induced, subtle dead end. Not true here. Instead, a tune like “Shock Value” has many layers that a listener with headphones could experience without the electronic competition.
“Easier” & “Hues” are both more accessible. This time, the technical stuff adds the proper haunting voices but never intrudes on the vocal, taking a page from Emmet Tinley’s Prayer Boat (“Saved”) back in 1998 on “Polichinelle.” Even “Cold Blooded” has this flair, but…the duo does have their own convincing creativity tightly wound with skill & spirit. Some songs are darker & intimate in a Blue Nile way. “So Low” has a nice mellow jazz touch. Alyssa asserts herself well with a smokier voice that Billie Holiday would have liked.
Highlights – “Fool For You,” “Invisible,” “Beautiful Gray,” “Shock Value,” “Easier,” “Cold Blooded,” “So Low,” & “Hues.”
Color image courtesy of the duo’s Facebook gallery. CD @ Bandcamp & https://www.deerfellow.com/