DAILY RECORDS : The Bewitched Hands On Top Of Our Heads, Darren Hanlon, Hey Rosetta

Posted by: Tony – Jul 13, 2010

The Bewitched Hands On Top Of Our Heads - Hard To Cry EP (Sony)
The five songs on this insanely-named French group's new EP vary significantly in sound and quality. Yet a common thread unites them--airy psychedelic pop that reminds me of the Polyphonic Spree. Their Beatlesque psychedelia is charming enough, but not of sufficient quality to stand out from the pack.

Darren Hanlon - I Will Love You At All (Yep Roc)
English-sounding singer-songwriter stuff with a traditional folk bent. It's certainly not horrible, but the repetitive song structures and well-explored genre territory leaves me cold. Someone playing this style with this much talent is probably performing at an Irish pub near you right now. Go see them instead.

Hey Rosetta - Into Your Lungs (Sonic)
These songs feature the same sort of long buildups to emotional climaxes that Frightened Rabbit have made work so well on their last two albums. Violins and pianos join the mostly acoustic guitars for a folk-influenced sound that does nothing to quiet the storming emotional heart of this music.

by Andrew Necci