Hospitality
In their 2012 self–titled debut album, Hospitality sang about carefree love, fixing heartbreak with aplomb. In “Trouble,” their latest release, their sound has matured into something world–weary, beautiful and emotive. Opening track “Nightingale” alternates between electric guitar riffs and piano melodies, draped over singer Amber Papini’s haunting vocals. Starting with an alternating bass line, “Inauguration” crescendos into a harmonic, somewhat disjointed ballad. Here, and elsewhere, Papini’s vocals take center stage. Equal parts Camera Obscura and Vampire Weekend, she blends pop–rock standards with her personal melancholic bent. When she sings of the hope and quiet desperation of love in “Call Me After,” you feel it.
Grade: A–
Sounds Best When: Bundled in a quilt and staring yearningly into the gray sky
Download: “Nightingale”
