Sunday, 19 October 2008

Review - Ian M. Hale - Greetings from San Francisco

Ian M. Hale - Greetings from San Francisco

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8 out of 10

Ian M. Hale is a London born and bred singer songwriter, who has provided a wonderful new EP called 'Greetings from San Francisco'. The EP is six tracks from an artist who takes influence from such people as Prince, David Byrne and Todd Rundgren.

'Don't Say You Love Me', the first track on the EP is a drum/ guitar driven track, which will stick in your head for ages! 'San Francisco' is a much softer track, with a strong potential that wouldn't go a miss in a TV advert, with Hale's soft high voice and strum a long acoustic guitar. 'Everybody Knows' is a dark acoustic guitar based track, which, like 'The Middle', features carefully crafted harmonies. 'Gabriola and the Rubbish Kids' obviously draw some influence from folk artists, with lovely harmonies, harmonicas and a lo-fi pop folk melody, which is reminiscent of all sorts of music, from early Beach Boys through to Devendra Banhart! The EP closes with 'Hot Water Medicine', which has a bit more of a collective feel, with drums carefully woven in to the equation.

Overall, the EP is a great piece of work, with commercially viable tracks, and most tracks under three minutes long. I'd recommend this to anyone who is after something a bit different, yet easily relatable.

Listen: www.myspace.com/ianmatthewhale

Tracklist:
1. Don't Say You Love Me
2. San Francisco
3. Everybody Knows
4. The Middle
5. Gabriola and the Rubbish Kids
6. Hot Water Medicine

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