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Bellowhead
01. New York Girls
02. Broomfield Hill
03. Cold Blows The Wind
04. Yarmouth Town

Almost 6 years in, Bellowhead have nothing left to prove on the stage, their live shows seem unstoppable, with each year bringing a wider range of material, tighter playing from all and a great stage show. Their previous two albums, have both had stunning highlights, but looking back have lost a little of the drive that the energy of the live shows gives.

The production on ‘Hedonism’ goes some way to bridging this gap, John Leckie (who has previously produced artists as diverse as The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Cowboy Junkies and Muse) has managed to keep some of the live feel of the stage shows, with a more driving and urgent sound than has featured on their previous album. It pays dividends on the opener ‘New York Girls’ that feels captures the energy of the live show perfectly in the first 30 seconds and sustains it throughout the song.

Almost all the songs fare well on this album, and they feature some well known choices (including ‘The Hand Weaver and the Factory Maid’, ‘Yarmouth Town’., ‘A-Begging I Will Go’) that are all given the full treatment with inventive arrangements of brass and strings, and Jon Boden’s soaring vocals that create the distinctive Bellowhead sound.
The tunes fare a little less well in the transition from stage to recording, even though the presentations here are full of energy and life, they joy of seeing them on stage and being part of the crowd is obviously a large part of the experience. The tunes sets on ‘Hedonism’ still sound great, but lose a little in comparison to the heights the songs reach – but that really is splitting hairs on an album that is confident, diverse and hugely enjoyable, and one that has captured the true energy and spirit of the band far better than the previous recordings.

BELLOWHEAD - HEDONISM

Bellowhead

CD (Cat No: 13604)

£11.99
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BELLOWHEAD - HEDONISM

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