Hello Blue Roses - The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Catch Your Beauty

If you're anything like me, then you must be eagerly awaiting the latest Destroyer release entitled "Trouble In Dreams," due out March 18th. In the meantime though, I would highly recommend taking a different Dan Bejar side project out for a test drive. This project is known as Hello, Blue Roses, and is actually the baby of the love of Dan's life, Sydney Vermont. Sydney is a visual artist from Vancouver and the lead singer of a group called Bonaparte. Her voice reminds me a bit of Kate Bush and a little bit of Margot Timmins, which gives their brand of spaghetti western indie folk a slight renaissance feel. I especially feel it when listening to 'Heron Song', where the flute accompaniment conjures up images of Da Vinci and Michelangelo pursuing their art in the early 1500's. OK, that's probably the only time ever that anyone has made that comparison but I can't help the way I feel. Anyway, back to the making sense portion of this review: other great moments can be found in tracks like 'Sunny Skies' a deceptively beautiful song, that spends most of its time with only Sydney and a piano accompaniment, before being joined by orchestral sounds and Dan's slightly off kilter vocals. 'Coming Through Imposture' is a folksy mostly acoustic gem, that once again really benefits from the diversity displayed by the fact that the couple's vocal abilities are so different from one another. Those vocals also complement each other nicely on 'Hymn,' probably my favorite song on the album. Therefore, if the three week wait for Destroyer's new album is killing you, purchase this new CD with the really long title, pour yourself a glass of red wine, kick back and chillax to the sounds of Hello, Blue Roses.

Download: Shadow Falls mp3 / Sunny Skies mp3
Myspace: Hello, Blue Roses
Purchase: The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Catch Your Beauty at Locust Music