The Hotelier
Goodness
Reviewed by: Matt Kelchner
“You in this light feels new, woken” bassist and singer Christian Holden recites as part of a spoken word piece that kicks off The Hotelier’s latest album, Goodness. The line represents the idea of seeing something old and common in a different and fresh way. It’s also a reoccurring theme throughout the album. Goodness shows the band not only expanding their musical boundaries, but lyrically finds them shedding new light.
Home, Like No Place There Is, the group’s 2014 release that garnered rave reviews and developed a strong, devoted following, focused on the harsher sides of life. The album threw a spotlight on Holden’s clever and wordy writing. Song after anthemic song made for perfect shouting singalongs with friends. On Goodness, the band moves towards finding the finer things in life that help those pull through troubling times.
Gone are the gang vocal fueled choruses that can be found all over Home (well almost). On their latest effort, the aforementioned spoken word track welcomes the listener and sets the thematic tone for the rest of the album. Soft, subtle instrumental interludes also make their debut. And while the fuzzy, distorted chugging lines are still worked into different tracks, there is a great deal of twangy, R.E.M.-esque guitar work to be found as well. Melodically, songs have opened to allow get more space for different parts to work their way to the forefront.
Pick any part of any songs, and you are sure to find examples of Holden’s growth in his lyrics. Still derived from personal experiences, they are now done so in a way that is less matter of fact and gives the listener a chance to pull their own deeper meaning from it.
The previously released singles, “Piano Player” and “Soft Animal” are strengthened given their context and position on the album. “Two Deliverances” leading into “Settle the Scar” make for a mighty back to back pairing, which then leads directly into the heartfelt “Opening Mail For My Grandmother”. Goodness wraps itself up on a high with “End of Reel”, a charging tune that clocks in a just over six minutes. It is a culminating track that sums up the greater picture presented in Goodness, looking past troubled times to the greater things ahead. And for the Hotelier, this album will lead them to greater times ahead as well.
Rating: Bad-Ass
