indie rock cafe

indie folk soft hillsSeattle indie folk pop band The Soft Hills blend dreamy melodies and sublime harmonies wrapped around introspective lyrics and seductive, rich vocals. While not completely obscure within the indie music circles, The Soft Hills' new EP, Painted World, has somehow slipped by the more popular music sites and blogs.

Painted World
features five solid songs that demonstrate the best of the ethereal possibilities of experimental indie folk mixed with pop. The EP is not overly produced or reliant on musical gimmicks - an increasing, and often unfortunate, trend in pop music over the past decade.

The raw talent of The Soft Hills is evident on the opening track, "Apples," an airy and meandering ballad that takes to heart the power of original songwriting and production. The next song, "Spent," is smooth and sublime, graced with low-key acoustic guitar and piano, almost absent of extraneous percussion. As the song flows gently along, singer and songwriter Garrett Hobba unveils the somewhat ironic lyric, "you've been drifting too far."

Hobba draws inspiration for his lyrics from 20th century literary artists, Eastern philosophy, and symbolic dreams. Fans of Mark Kozelek, the prolific singer and songwriter of San Francisco indie folk bands Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters take note; the likeness of The Soft Hills' sound and story-telling is, at times, remarkably similar, whether intentional or not.

The sprawling track "Wandering" features ambient, rich harmonies, and the Belle & Sebastian-esque song "Hills Like White Elephants" is easily the EP's most up-tempo song. The record's last song, "Diamond Road," paints a lush Mojave 3-like sonic experience with hints of the folksy charm of Band of Horses. The only draw-back is that the song is a bit too long, clocking in at just under seven minutes long.

The Soft Hills began their journey in 2007 when Hobba moved to Seattle and met up with drummer Caleb Heinrich. Soon the duo were joined by fellow Seattle musicians Brittan Drake on piano, guitar and bass and Brett Massa on guitar, bass and vocals.

"Apples" - The Soft Hills from Painted World

"Hills Like White Elephants" - The Soft Hills from Painted World

Official website: http://www.thesofthills.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thesofthills


Did You Miss: IRC's Most Popular Posts Last Week:

- Summer Indie Rock Mix, Vol. III: Songs from Opus Orange, Arctic Monkeys, The Raveonettes, Fanfarlo, Spoon and More

- Songs From Bands That Played Lollapalooza 2009: White Lies, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, No Age, Blind Pilot and Many More

- It's Moon Night: Songs About The Moon from Bat For Lashes, Sunset Rubdown, Radiohead, The Walkmen, Windmill, Feist, The Police and Tom Waits

- Debut Album from LA Alt Rock Band Black Them Boots

Labels: , ,



eMusic's FREE Daily Download!

   August 10, 2009   

2 Comments:

At 12:15 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I luv The Soft Hills!

 
At 3:47 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Going to see The Soft Hills at the Knitting Factory in LA!

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

Older Posts
twitter indierockcafe
indirockfacebook
indie rock myspace
youtube indie rock
indie rock lastfm
indie rock itunes podcast

Download 25 FREE songs at eMusic.com!

Indie Rock Cafe on Facebook



blog advertising is good for you

Current and upcoming releases (US dates)

12/7/09 Ólafur Arnalds - Dyad 1909
1/12/10 Vampire Weekend - Contra
1/19/10 Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP
1/19/10 Spoon - Transference
1/26/10 Beach House - Teen Dream
1/26/10 Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
2/1/10 Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
2/2/10 Midlake - The Courage of Others
2/9/10 Yeasayer - Odd Blood
2/23/10 Shout Out Louds - Work
2/23/20 Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
3/2/10 Rogue Wave - Permalight
3/2/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
3/9/10 Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
3/9/10 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
3/16/10 Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do
3/16/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
3/22/10 Jónsi - Go
3/23/10 She & Him - Volume 2
5/4/10 The New Pornographers - Together

Get NCAA Tournament Tickets at StubHub!
IRC Popular Playlists & Mixes
Hundreds of songs, artists and bands.

 - 2009 Indie Rock Songs
 - 2008 Indie Rock Songs
 - 2007 Indie Rock Songs
 - Ears To The Music
 - State of Music
 - Best Rarely Heard Indie Songs
 - Summer Indie Rock Mixes
 - Songs of Winter
 - Songs of Spring
 - Songs About The Moon
 - Halloween Indie Rock Songs
 - Indie Christmas Songs Compilation
 - Valentine and Love Mixes
 - Songs About New York City
 - Dream Playlist
 - Songs for Mom
 - The Great Unknowns
 -  Quickies

Regular Features
 - Best New Releases
 - Band of the Week
 - Singer-Songwriter Spotlight Series
 - Bands to Watch
 - In Dee Mail
 - One Man Bands

Dig The Music Archives




Indie Record Labels


See Sold-Out Shows! Tickets Available on StubHub.com