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Hem
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No Word From Tom
Waveland Records
Release: 2/07/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Jonathan Shipley
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Though not an album that'll achieve great status in the
overall oeuvre of Hem's musical catalogue (listen to
Rabbit Songs, their first album to hear how
good Hem can be), No Word From Tom, is, still,
a solid album. Subtitled Outtakes, Covers, Demos,
Live Recordings, and Rarities (2000-2005), the group
plays straight up country classics, such as "Rainy Night in
Georgia," as well as such varied songs as Fountain of
Wayne's "The Present," (Gary Maurer, a musician in Hem
worked with Fountains of Wayne previously) and R.E.M.'s
"South Central Rain."
All in all, it's low key - simplified, to bring out the best the
musicians have to offer (whether it be guitar, mandolin,
violin, banjo, and more) and Sally Ellyson's folk-country
voice; sweet, laid back. Ellyson, before joining Hem had
never sung professionally before. She simply responded to
an ad in The Village Voice, sending in a
cassette of lullabies. Dan Messe (songwriter and the co-
founder of Hem along with Maurer) was taken in by Ellyson's
voice and their first album, Rabbit Songs, was
recorded simple, bare-boned, without sampling, computer
mixing, or digitalization. After releasing an EP, Birds,
Beasts, & Flowers, they released their second full-
length album, Eveningland, continuing their
growth in the earthy no-nonsense American folk
scene.
Their new album is simply bits and pieces from Hem from
then to now. It starts a cappella with Ellyson whispering "All
the Pretty Horses," before the soft "Rainy Night in Georgia"
cover that feels like a warm cup of coffee on a quiet Sunday
morning. They continue with a smattering of this and that
("Betting on Trains," a beautiful song), but, perhaps that's
the main problem in the album, it's not whole, it's simply bits
and pieces cobbled together not making the album into any
sort of cohesive unit. Each song in itself is fine, but there's
no musical thread that connects them all. Many of the songs
are short as if they were simply put in the album to make it
a full-length album. "Hmm," one could hear them saying at
the studio, "we're still short a few minutes. Let's put in "The
Tennessee Waltz" and call it a day."
Hopefully with their next album they'll continue making new
music rather than rehashing old ones. A good album,
certainly, but at this early stage in their career, a
cover/rarities/bits and pieces album won't catapult their
careers any higher in the musical world like listeners know
they can get to. |
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