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maximilian hecker, "lady sleep"
On his third full-length album, Maximilian Hecker has truly establishedhimself as a fantastic pianist, composer, and arranger. Lady Sleepopens with the climactic piano melody of "Birch." It sets the scenemuch like a tragic love story: patient and powerful, set against lushstrings and underscoring Hecker's frail voice.Kitty-yo
The album picks up where2003's The Rose left off: piano-soaked melodies almost completely void of the electronic beats and rhythms that made his 2001 debut Infinite Love Songs so infectious. This is where the problem lies, however. With Infinite Love Songs,Hecker was not only powerful in his originality, but he authored somepowerful songs that linger long after they're over. The problem thatplagues Lady Sleep is similar to The Rose: the lyricsare a tad too timid and moderately obscure, almost completelyincomprehensible at times, uncatchy and forgettable; and without thedaring rhythms and beats of the first album, as a whole, the album isdangerously bordering on completely miserable. Furthermore, Hecker'soriginality seems to be slipping too: songs like "Lady Sleep," andespecially "Dying," painfully echo Sigur Ros while on "Yeah, EventuallyShe Goes," the album's only track that choses to (almost) rock, Heckeris plainly resurrecting Radiohead's "Creep." Perhaps Hecker is tryingto find some hit power for his formula, and although I can give himsome mad props for the stunning piano and string arrangements,everything else is far too bland and disposable. Perhaps it's time fora remix album to add some color back into his palette.
The album picks up where2003's The Rose left off: piano-soaked melodies almost completely void of the electronic beats and rhythms that made his 2001 debut Infinite Love Songs so infectious. This is where the problem lies, however. With Infinite Love Songs,Hecker was not only powerful in his originality, but he authored somepowerful songs that linger long after they're over. The problem thatplagues Lady Sleep is similar to The Rose: the lyricsare a tad too timid and moderately obscure, almost completelyincomprehensible at times, uncatchy and forgettable; and without thedaring rhythms and beats of the first album, as a whole, the album isdangerously bordering on completely miserable. Furthermore, Hecker'soriginality seems to be slipping too: songs like "Lady Sleep," andespecially "Dying," painfully echo Sigur Ros while on "Yeah, EventuallyShe Goes," the album's only track that choses to (almost) rock, Heckeris plainly resurrecting Radiohead's "Creep." Perhaps Hecker is tryingto find some hit power for his formula, and although I can give himsome mad props for the stunning piano and string arrangements,everything else is far too bland and disposable. Perhaps it's time fora remix album to add some color back into his palette.samples:
