Hazel City is the project of Chicago’s Clay Frankel who wrote, recorded and produced the sophomore album goblynmarkytt. There is a golden hour glow to all the tracks, and the warmth of the album radiates like alfresco drinking on a sunny summer’s afternoon. The soporific quality of the album is so intoxicating you’ll let out an involuntary sigh and feel your blood pressure lowering from the very first track .
‘Bat’, which opens the album, sets out the tranquil manifesto with gently strummed acoustic guitar as light as candyfloss wrapped up in the piano’s glissando runs and the three voices of Frankel with Sofia Jensen and Lileana Moore singing octaves in hypnotic unison. The soulful addition of Hunter Diamond on saxophone makes this a spectacular start.
Big and bombastic has its merits but restraint and maintaining a light touch while holding the listener’s attention is no mean feat and Hazel City do this effortlessly; almost belying the skill it takes to pull it off. Every sound is perfectly placed; the merengue-soft electric piano on ‘Remember’, the Keith Jarret-like piano motif and soulful vocals on ‘Snow II’, chiming guitar chords and harmonica on ‘Cotton’, and the shimmering strings and tiny guitar trills on ‘Mean’.
Goblynmarkytt repeatedly gave me chills and sent my mind fizzing with all the bands I love that I heard in the album’s DNA; the gentler side of everyone from Prefab Sprout, Jungle, Steely Dan, and Björk. That sense of familiarity and originality is a glorious blend and goblynmarkytt fits into the liminal space between being asleep and awake but also has the wonderful ability to soundtrack everything from your lazy Sunday morning to third date evenings with someone you are falling in love with. Pack a bag and head to Hazel City whenever you feel stress levels rising.
Hazel Moon
Hazel City: Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Guest collaborators on goblynmarkytt:
Hunter Diamond (Sax) on ‘Bat’
Ella Williams on ‘Fifteen’, ‘Jade, & ‘Haunted’
Lileana Moore on ‘Mean’ & ‘Bat’
Sofia Jensen on ‘Remember’, ‘Haunted’, ‘Cotton’ & ‘Bat’
Angeleyes on ‘Cotton’ & ‘Mean’
Review by Paul F Cook
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