Erik Hassle - 'Hurtful'
Look at that face! How much hassle could a li'l fella like that really BE? I mean REALLY? Oh sure, I bet he's a bit stubborn from time to time. I bet he doesn't come down to breakfast the first time he's called, and won't wear the nice jumpers his nan sends him for Christmas (note to self: must check if they have jumpers and nans in Sweden. And Christmas, come to that). And it's almost a foregone conclusion that he doesn't wear sensible shoes with a supportive instep.
But c'mon...HASSLE? If that little scamp stopped me in the street and demanded all my worldly goods in exchange for my life, all he'd get for his trouble is a strawberry lollipop and a tousle on the head.
Let's hope his music is a bit more troublesome, or we might be looking at a total rebrand before he's even got properly started.
(. Look! Joe Lean and Ellie from La Roux had a baby!)
What we're dealing with here is a big confessional song, in the vein of Coldplay or Keane, seemingly built from icicles buried in layers of wafty reverb (and an attention-seeking drummer. Hi drummer!).
Erik himself is in fine Ryan Tedder voice, squeezing the sadness and regret from his croaky throat and trying to convince you, the person he has wronged, that he knows he was a fool to do it. And given the chance, he'd like nothing more than to go back and make amends. Which again, isn't a particularly hassley thing to do, unless his middle names are Sorry, About and The.
Anyway, it's a nice song he has made here, if a little over-reliant on Big Indie glacial production and lacking in personality. Maybe that's what the coiffed hair is all about.
After all, getting curly hair to stand up like that? THAT'S a hassle.
Download: Out now
CD Released: February 8th
91Èȱ¬ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
PS: Yesyesyes, I know it's his real surname and therefore officially Not His Fault.
PPS: Yesyesyes, of course they have Christmas in Sweden.
Comment number 1.
At 1st Feb 2010, mangsy wrote:1. Christmas in Sweden? Yeah they have it, like you said. Jesus and all that.
2. Nans, I would think.
3. Jumpers, of course. In fact, I would assume they were invented somewhere in the arctic regions on an especially frosty evening. You know, after someone cried he´d just about had enough and then found some wool and two sticks lying around.
Song´s alright, but a bit dated soundwise. So I´ve been told. 3 stars hits the spot.
Now, why are there so few good tracks around at the mo? No wonder Jedward are gonna be... number 1 on Sunday.
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Comment number 2.
At 1st Feb 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:The reason there's no good songs at the moment is because it's early in the year, for some strange reason album season seems to take place from April - June (for people looking for a summer anthem) and from August - October (for people looking to make it onto some end of year list) good singles simply come with good albums. That's how I see it anyway, it might just be the artists that I listen to make me think that.
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Comment number 3.
At 1st Feb 2010, flatknees wrote:care little for this song.. there should be an actual general chat blog here.. but hot chip really sneaked their new album up on me... pretty good stuff.. in love with 'i feel better'
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Comment number 4.
At 2nd Feb 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:the new Hot Chip album is quite good actually. I'd only listen to about half the album but the bits I'd listen to are very good, Thieves In The Night is quickly becoming my favourite Hot Chip song.
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Comment number 5.
At 4th Feb 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:I have no thoughts on Erik Hassle other than the fact that, in this photo, his skin appears to have scales.
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