Sid Hillman Releases A Warm Single and Record
A single release from Sid Hillman delivers a beautiful approach to blending elements of what I would call Americana and an alternative rock undertone, but all done with this superb subtlety that makes you get attached to the lyrics that are being sung and the story being told.
"Even Things" is a track that has a sort of live feel to it because everything is so warm instrumentally and tonally.
Between electric guitars, a very warm bass guitar tone, live drums, and these vocals that put you there in the moment, the whole thing has this wonderful atmosphere, and while you listen to it all unfold, you get pulled into it.
For me, the reason it reminds me of certain kinds of 90s underground bands like Low, for example, is that very personal and almost sullen tone.
This was definitely a song that came from someplace genuine, but you also have that Americana feel as well. This comes from some of the twang of the electric guitars. There are two sets of guitars on this track, and one is more of a rhythm section, all the other has an overlapping set of notes that it performs, and those notes are a little twangy.
Along with those guitars, you have a sort of rolling snare drum thing going on, and that also breeds an Americana feel to an extent.
You have influences that feel like they come from country music, but also bands like Nirvana, and I find that absolutely astounding.
That's part of why this piece of music has a particular aesthetic to it. It comes from a slew of influences, in my opinion, and the way it's delivered has an honesty to it and a vulnerability that you end up understanding and relating with.
This track is one of the first singles released on an album called Oxygen.
I've heard the full album, and I can tell you right now there's a lot more country in Americana on it as you listen through.
Some of that almost edgy underbelly is still there at times, and there are loads of honesty and personality embedded in the veins of the record, but you do get more of that southern twang throughout the songs, and this was a really engulfing record, in a great way.
I think alternative folk or alternative country might be what most would pinpoint this album as, but "Even Things" works wonderfully as an introduction track because it boasts some of the staple aesthetics that the full album actually displays.
You get this very one-on-one vibe when you listen to the record. It feels like the whole thing was done in one room, live on the floor during one session, and it puts you right there with them.
I love listening to a recording, getting a personal vibe from it. A sense that you're sitting there in a room with the band as they perform it.
Now, there are sections of the record that get a little bit more intense, just as there are parts of "Even Things" that do, but the whole thing does have a certain subtle approach that keeps the tones warm and the dynamics softer.
This was a beautifully woven song, and the album boasts a lot more surprises, but still keeps some of those beautiful staples and tonalities that the single has.
This track and album all hit me wonderfully, and its vulnerability and Beauty really came through in that soft and subtle approach and the warmth of all those instruments, along with vocals that bring more of that sensibility to the table.
This is a great track to dive into the sound with, but this full album gives off such lush approaches and personal tones that listening to the entire thing from start to finish is the nly way to go here.
"Even Things" is one of the most enticing songs on the release but going through it all in one shot is the only way to soak in all the full album has to offer.
Take a listen to this track when you can, and do it with headphones on so you can really take it in the way it was meant to be heard.
