Page 22 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE DECEMBER 2014

RGG December 2014 - p.22
Based in West London The Bedroom Hour are
Stuart Drummond (Lead vocals) Bob Payne
(Guitar backing vocals) Mark Dudley (Keyboards)
Andy Copper (Bass) and Lewis Cosham (Drums)
They released their debut EP ‘Themes’ back in May
of last year but now comes the real acid test; the
debut album
Hinterland begins in rather grandiose fashion with
the short atmosphere building instrumental
‘Ocean ’ Ok so technically there is a vocal of sorts
floating in the background but that’s not of
massive importance in the grand scheme of things
The album really gets underway with ‘Sea With
Without Water ’ Again it’s another atmospheric
number with a real uplifting feel The vocal fits
the track perfectly and doesn’t try to dominate
although personally I would have had the synth
effects lower down in the mix as I feel in places
that they overshadow the main melody but all in
all it’s a very promising start
The next track ‘Nocturnal’ gives more than a tip of
the hat to titans of this genre Elbow but that is no
band thing The intro is nice and up tempo and in
keeping with the rest of the record everything
production wise is suitably well polished Vocally
Drummond’s understated authority finds all the
right spots as it glides beautifully across a bed of
gentle guitars and strings It’s on this type of track
where the band really produce their best work and
this is already one of the highlights of the entire
record
The stomping drum beat which ushers in ‘Heart
Will Haunt’ is soon overtaken by relatively sparse
production and an airy vocal of Drummond who is
sounding more like Guy Garvey with every passing
track The understated production means that not
only does the main melody slide under the radar
but it places more emphasis on the lyrics and
central vocal which is a nice touch The intro to
‘Broken’ gives the opening minute or so of the track
quite a dark feel but in typical Bedroom Hour style
this is soon tripped away and replaced a big
sweeping chorus The strings which arrive just
before halfway give the song another dimension
and help to lift the mood That is until things return
to the beginning for a moody finish
‘Sapphires’ is probably the weakest track on the
album and the only one that I don’t really like
That’s not to say that its without it’s good
moments as the vocal and the way that the verses
build do have a charm about them but the track is
simply too long Not enough happens and by the
time the song does run to a conclusion it is treading
water having got lost in its own grandeur Focus
however is restored with the sharper sounds of
‘Ghost Of A Smile ’ Rather than just winding along
the song has a point while also containing one of
the albums most relatable lyrics
I see so much resentment inside my own reflection
From a technical standpoint there is nothing
special about that line but I think it’s just very
effective in the context of the song
the bedroom hour
The hype surrounding this album on social media in the
run up to its release has been absolutely incredible
I always try and steer clear of the hype machine because
in my experience it will only end badly but after hearing
the couple of tracks that I had from The Bedroom Hour I
must confess that expectations were quite high