Can you have a rock band that almost completely avoids electric guitars, seldom uses drums and instead relies on orchestral arrangements? That philosophical question again came to mind in connection with the new release by the Brooklyn-based group called Hem. It's their fourth CD called Funnel Cloud.

Hem started when keyboard man Dan Messé and guitarist and producer Gary Maurer wanted to put together a kind of folky Americana band, and recruited a female lead vocalist through an ad in the Village Voice. The group formed in 1999 and also counts among its founding members, guitarist and mandolinist Steve Curtis, and Sally Ellyson, the previously amateur vocalist who responded to their ad, and who was selected over many the other contenders.

For their first album, Messé and Maurer decided they wanted to add some strings and the project snowballed to the point that Maurer and the others were selling off personal possessions to pay for the studio musicians. But that debut release Rabbit Songs was a delight, achieving a creative and edifying mix of the formal with the folky. The band followed that with Eveningland, for which Hem traveled to Slovakia to work with an orchestra there for budget reasons, and continued their engaging, often slightly melancholy music held together by Ms. Ellyson's increasingly confident and supple voice. Last year, Hem released a collection of outtakes and demos called No Word from Tom, but now they are out with a CD of all-new material, called Funnel Cloud, and the group have again surpassed themselves in many ways. It's a collection of contemplative, languid songs performed in understated acoustic arrangements frequently backed by a string section. This time, the group put together their own chamber orchestra from around Brooklyn, which they called the Gowanus Radio Orchestra, after the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. Greg Parks this time did the arrangements and conducted the strings and woodwinds, which were apparently squeezed into every nook and cranny of the small studio where they did the recording. Other guests this time include vocalist Amy Helm, of the band Ollabelle, plus James Iha, founding guitarist from Smashing Pumpkins.

Ms. Ellyson has really become a fine singer, whose pure-sounding voice is a perfect fit for the mellow, pensive songs by Messé, Maurer and Curtis. The group's original intent toward Americana and folk music remains an undercurrent of this recording. The band has a member, Bob Hoffnar, who specializes in pedal steel guitar and Dobro, which adds an interesting contrast to the classical-style orchestral arrangements. The folk influence waxes and wanes on the CD, with the mix between the orchestral and the folk sounds. Lyrically, the album is rather impressionistic, with lines that are often succinct but open to varied interpretations. But regardless of what is said, the music's overall quality is very attractive and the group's sound remains what I suppose could be called American chamber folk.

Opening is a song called We'll Meet Along the Way, which sounds like an old folksong title, but the short piece is one of the CD's more introspective, and according to Maurer, is one of a series of songs that hint at impending major life changes. <<>>

The strings make an appearance on a love song called He Came to Meet Me, along with the vaguely country undercurrent thanks to the steel guitar. <<>>

The title song Funnel Cloud was inspired by just that. Dan Messé was attending Ms. Ellyson's wedding in Virginia, and in the midst of a beautiful day, according to Messé, "There was a puff of a cloud. Then the next thing we knew five tornadoes were touching down and the party had to evacuate to local cellars." When he got home, he found that his house had been flooded and he lost a great deal, and the following week, his father died. He says the lyrics are about moving forward from unexpected setbacks. <<>>

Not California is a vaguely country-influenced song about the infatuation people have for the California that is portrayed on commercial TV shows, and that image's detachment from reality. <<>>

Showing considerably more country music influence is the track called Too Late to Turn Back Now, another of those songs about impending life changes. <<>>

There is one instrumental piece on the album, The Burnt-Over District. It's a nicely done composition that evokes American folk music in an orchestral setting. According to Messé, it was originally supposed to be a vocal, named Barcarolle, but there was a disagreement with Ms. Ellyson on how the song should be sung. So it ended up being an instrumental. <<>>

Old Adam shows the group's distinctive combination of Americana and orchestral music. The Adam in question is the Biblical first man. <<>>

The 14-track CD ends with a piece that sounds as if it came from musical theater, Almost Home. Its lyrics show some optimism, while the composition and arrangements are very nicely done and quite formal-sounding.

Hem's new fourth CD Funnel Cloud, continues the path set by the group's previous recordings, a very nice mix of folk and Americana with excellent orchestral settings. Sally Ellyson's vocals, already a strong factor on the group's earlier CDs, are exceptionally fine this time around, and the group's writing and general musicianship are at their best on this recording. The mood may be a bit melancholy in places lyrically, but the music is so pleasing and attractive in sound that this CD can easily become the sonic equivalent of "comfort food." Though they don't tour with the full orchestra, they are expanded to an eight-member group with some strings for live appearances.

Our grade for sound quality is an "A." There is good clarity on the strings and acoustic instruments, Sally Ellyson's vocals sound warm and intimate, there is good use of spacey ambience in the right places, and the dynamic range is better than average for a pop recording.

For the past few years there has been something of a reaction against the aggressive, loud and thoroughly unsubtle music that tends to dominate the commercial pop charts, perhaps inspired by the popular rediscovery of the music of the late British songwriter Nick Drake. Hem epitomizes the new mellow sounds, and does it better than almost anyone on the scene.

(c) Copyright 2006 George D. Graham. All rights reseved.
This review may not be copied to another Web site without written permission.

<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

Comments to George: