Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose is the debut album from England’s Beth Jeans Houghton. Over the record’s 10 tracks, Houghton and her accompanying Hooves Of Destiny
take some post-modern liberties with the folk-music format. Houghton
and co. integrate rustic folk contemplation with jungle-beat rousing,
experiment with baroque arrangements, and employ diverse instrumentation
as well as choral chants and lush string orchestration to augment the
sonic delivery. This variety of ingredients elicits thoughts of foggy
mountain top freedom as well as ornate concert theatre sophistication.
While Yours Truly..’s bold gestures are predominantly well
executed, the albums’ extravagance sometimes seems to shroud the force
of the songs and you get the impression that the album would benefit
from additional breathing room and increased textural consistency. That
said, once you become attuned with the experimental venturing, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose does reveal an intriguing personality and the moments of bombast can be quite a charming novelty.
Houghton is at her best when she can eschew the inclination to
grandiosity, as this can result in the slightly uneasy textural
volatility of tracks such as ‘Humble Digs’. Conversely, when she
succeeds at consolidating her patent wealth of ideas into a cohesive
picture, Yours Truly.. competently alludes to the theatrical quirk of The Dresden Dolls, the ornate compassion of Beirut, and occasionally hints towards Laura Marling’s touching authenticity.
‘Night Swimmer’ is one of the albums’ simpler numbers and a clear
standout. It utilises ukulele, (what might be a) harpsichord, and
insistent percussion to convey a floaty atmosphere. In the song’s
mesmerising chorus Houghton’s ethereal voice in-obtrusively reflects
upon being consumed by a lover “You’re only my only love and I can’t
keep my head up above this ocean that you poured all over the bedroom”.
‘The Barely Skinny Bone Tree’ follows and it is a finger-picked acoustic
meditation, somewhat reminiscent of Fleet Foxes’ more considered,
wood-cabin, moments. Houghton’s voice is at its most sorrow laden in the
songs repeating circular refrain. The tender emotional connection begot
by this song shows that when the excess of adornments is cleared away a
greater force can be exerted.
The single ‘Lilliput’ jumps between wispy vocal retreats and
afro-beat uprightness. It very seamlessly combines these two motifs and
effectively sets the imagination in motion, framing visions of
free-roaming adventures and uninhibited dancing communion.
‘Veins’ is another song that benefits from a relative amount of
containment. It cleverly juxtaposes stripped backed verses, where
Houghton’s voice is supported by piano and choral vocal flourishes, then
introduces bass, drums and strings for the easy-going chorus. The line
“there’s nothing else like your own pain to remind you that nothing’s
ever gonna be the same” indicates towards a thematic torment that is
belied by the surface frivolity that dominates much of the album.
Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose displays a great deal of
potential; the songs are impressive musical pieces and The Hooves of
Destiny are obviously a very adept group of musicians. Additionally, the
times when the album glides with inspiration illustrate Houghton’s
ability to make a resounding impact. Unfortunately, for the most part
the album fails to register a really emotionally moving quality. The
tangential hyperactivity too often allows the listener to wander
themselves. With greater focus, and perhaps a bit of restraint, the
latent power in many of these songs could manifest with captivating
potency.
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Author: Augustus Welby
Source: theorangepress
Date: March 13, 2012
Original article: HERE
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