A two-man outfit from NYC, Hello Later’s Where I’m Calling From is less slapdash than a new side project. Seven songs in around 13 minutes, Hello Later aren’t trying to overload you. This is an introduction, plain and simple: you get the charming “Hello Later,” the meaningful yet clever “I Won’t Mind,” and even the overtly ridiculous “Little Black Suitcase.” Where I’m Calling From is a first date with an attractive and off-kilter mate that both surprises you with style and makes you want to see more.
The most impressive work on the EP are the more serious tracks. “I Won’t Mind” is stylistically perfect– swells of electric guitar accompany a pretty riff. Easy, faraway drums move the song along gently and conversational lyricism resonates well. “Signs are not always right,/ but it seems like I’m holding on.” Each song is short– sometimes abnormally so– but this one is the right length. Once “I Won’t Mind” ends, you feel like everything has been said despite not much having been said at all. That’s the basis of a powerful song: the story is told, the instruments are solid and the listener wants the song again.
“What Day It Is” is more of a classic folk jam. “Sky’s painted gray/ the sun is gone away/ No one cares what day it is,” the song is an exercise in using referential and plainspoken information. Two minutes long, “What…” casts an innocuous light on a vague situation, but the listener is compelled to understand. The conflict of the song is so unimportant that it is never actually defined. While this is common in pop music, Hello Later redefines the descriptive narrative to hint at an underlying dread. And it is that dread that specifically defines their importance.
The haze of Hello Later shines most on their upbeat songs. Winter as a thematic choice is strange, since the songs including seasonal imagery are three of the most bright. “Elephant (Winter Version)” even includes background whistling. This might be a pattern, it might be a coincidence. There’s not much evidence to go on in three short songs, but it does add to the overall aesthetic of the band’s introduction. The lazy haze of the EP is absent in winter songs, but invoking Winter at all still shows the easygoing ethos the band works to accomplish.
Hello Later is a spry, young idea awaiting to blossom. Thing is, all we have is what we’re provided. Seven short songs, a lot of potential and the waiting game. This EP is an accomplishment; a Pyrrhic victory. “I Won’t Mind” is one of my favorite songs of the year thus far and this EP is a good one. That said, the first date is only part of the battle. If there’s a next EP/Album, these two gentlemen have work cut out for them. As simple and unassuming as they may be, they’ve made an impression on me. Now, concurrently, I have expectations. Hello Later have won me over for now, so our next date is gonna be interesting. It’s all I can ask from a band that gave me no expectations upon meeting.
You can download the EP– name your own price– or stream it HERE.
12 Desperate Straight Lines sounds sort of like a cross between Phoenix and early solo Paul McCartney. Now, depending on your tastes, that simplistic assessment could span from high praise to damnation, but happily for everyone I’d say the truth lies somewhere in the good part of the middle. There’s plenty to applaud on this sophomore effort, its few arguable missteps generated by production choices and not a lack of talent, which in its own way would be less frustrating and more easily dismissed.
