HEM: Rabbit Songs

Hem

Rabbit Songs

© 2002 Hem (011661324824)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Arty, lightly orchestrated folk/ pop

notes

In the spring of 1999, songwriter Dan Messé (piano, glockenspiel, harmonium) teamed up with producer/engineer Gary Maurer (guitar, mandolin) and decided to make a record. He hoped that it would stylistically interweave their interest in traditional American music with more of a contemporary aesthetic. Dan and Gary's mutual friend Steve Curtis (guitar, mandolin) became involved and all that was needed was a singer.

The band placed an ad in the Village Voice. An onslaught of bizarre demos followed suit and so the ad was pulled.

Shortly thereafter a woman named Sally Ellyson called Dan in response to it, cautioning that she wasn't really a "singer". To get her off the phone Dan asked for a demo, skeptical to say the least. This home-made tape of Sally unaccompanied, singing versions of traditional lullabies, was spare, deceptively uncomplicated and as spine-tingling as anything Dan could have hoped for. The band that would now call itself Hem had found its singer.

Having started off as a low-budget collaboration between musician friends, the Rabbit Songs sessions seemed to take on a life of their own. As the album began to take shape, the band realized that they were creating something special. Dan commenced selling off most of his personal possessions so he could afford the 18 piece orchestras, and the luxury of being as painstaking as they wanted over the arrangements of each song. No samples, no synths, no Pro-Tools mixing and no digital studio wizardry were employed. Rabbit Songs is an old school album, recorded the old school way. Gary, a seasoned studio engineer, has worked with a host of artists and bands including Jon Spencer, Luna, Fountains Of Wayne and James Iha.

A fragment of the home-made tape Sally made for Dan serves as the starting point for Rabbit Songs' historical exploration of American music. The music is lush and filled with eclectic harmonies: a mandolin enveloped by an eighteen-piece orchestra, a pedal steel accentuated by a glockenspiel, underpinned by the guitar in an elaborate framework. And through it all, Sally's beautiful voice shaping each word.

Rabbit Songs is a labor of love. As you listen, we hope you will understand why band members were bankrupted to complete it.

reviews

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  • MYSTICAL
    author: robin

    I just dont know where to start, Half Acre and Leave Me Here move me to tears.....Its just wonderful..........Thank You

  • Rabbit Songs
    author: Karen R. Bloom

    Pure, sweet talent and beauty! Love it! Please make more!

  • sweet.
    author: marie bell

    My first time for "Hem"....and I love their music. Very organic and melodic and introspective. Love the orchestration. Shall definitely purchase more of Hem's music.

  • perfect.
    author: Jonathan Ammons

    this album is perfect in every way shape and form. I cannot think of a better band or a better record.

  • Embroidery
    author: Marcia Lins

    Melodic story-telling country, solid deft music that backs the uniquely movingly simple (and gracefully lovely) vocals perfectly...This group works together like they've been playing together for fifty years. The music is surprisingly accessible, too: my sister and I prefer harmony pop and her husband is a truck country man, yet we can all sit and listen to HEM over and over, everybody happy.

  • One of the best folk albums of all time.
    author: Braden Land

    i'm not kidding. complete with a version of The Cuckoo. You may have heard the story; how Dan wrote the album before the band was complete. well it was so good, that God sent him an angel to sing it. one listen and you'll know it's an incredible album; one listen while you're driving through farmland in Michigan and you'll know it's alot more than that. 100% of the people i have recommended this band to have thanked me more than once.

  • Sally is awesome!
    author: Steve Gilmore

    Just like "Eveningland", "Rabbit Songs" is one of those CD's that has you repeatedly hitting the "repeat" button. Sally's voice holds you right from the start.

  • Absolutely gorgeous.......................
    author: Jason Bennett

    As a singer-songwriter myself, there are times when we stumble across an album which truly redefines our own ideas and boundaries. This debut cd from Hem called Rabbit Songs is one of those albums. It has skyrocketed to my second all-time favorite album. The bottom line here is that Sally Ellyson is absolutely the purest vocalist out there today. No question. And when you combine Dan Messe's lyrical brilliance with Sally's art you really have something special. I could go into detail about every song, every arrangement. But I won't. Just go get this cd. It is contemporary folk perfection. It doesn't get any better....... bennettfolk.com

  • These are beautiful songs.
    author: CHINASKI

    These are beautiful songs. With hope and heart, Ellyson's voice is the centerpiece for all of these songs save the instrumentals, a silken mouthpiece for the light and lyrical words by pianist Dan Messé. If you're looking for gentle lullabies to drink a nice glass of wine on the porch to - this is the smooth tonic you need. Hem has made an album that feels like home.

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