Big Love and Little Hollywood — Love More (Review)
I was on the look out for some new artists to listen to the other day, specifically LGBTQ+ artists, and came across a Spotify playlist of LGBTQ+ artists. I went to town adding various artists to my playlist of music to listen to. I honestly just picked at random and planned to revisit the playlist as I go through the songs/albums. Big Love and Little Hollywood was on the list with their latest single, “New Slang”. I wanted to go through an album of their work to see what I thought so, I found their first and only album to date, Love More. I decided to give it a listen on the car ride into work this morning. What are my overall thoughts?
The album starts off with a soft guitar track, “Lost Arcade”. It’s pretty track, very singer/songwriter. Their voices sound lovely together. Lyrically, it falls rather flat for me. It’s about the looking for love. It’s a pretty track, and short at about 2 minutes. It just doesn’t do it for me. “Two Queens One Heart” is another soft love song. The acoustic guitar is more prominent in this track. Again, it’s a nice sound, I just wish it had a bit of a faster tempo. “Death of Robin Hood” is played on Ukulele with an accompanying acoustic guitar. It tells the story of Robin Hood in his last minutes, with him reflecting what they had done and its worth. Vocally, the duo sound absolutely wonderful together here. Again, lyrically, I wish it went a little deeper into the story that they are trying to tell here. It just feels like you get cliff notes version of the moment. “Empire” has the classic cliche “ohs” that any indie song from the 2010s had to have. It’s much more upbeat track, with ambient sounds of people at a party, a low hum of Hammond organ, and bouncy beat. It’s something I hope the duo continues to use more in their future work, as I think it’s a strength of them. “Enchante” is the single off this record. Listening to it at first, I wasn’t quite grabbed by it. On a second listen, I can tell why they decided to use this as their first single. It’s a lovely blend of their soft singer/songwriter and upbeat indie sound. The bass on this track is fun little addition, giving a fun little groove to the track. This is their strongest love song so far off the record. “Flowers” is another love song, at this point I was beginning to notice a need for a little more variety in the lyrical themes on this album. I think the opening lyrics, “Flowers in her hair and a tattoo on her skin, I don’t know where to start or even how to begin…” was a little too on the nose for me. It’s a bit generic. “Sunshine” was the first song I heard off the album. It was welcomed chord shift, as I felt that most songs off the record so off seemed to use the same 4 chords in each song. Lyrically… it’s another love song. “Be my elegant queen, I will be a royal king covered in sunshine…”, its the same theme I’ve discussed before. The added slide guitar is wonderful addition. “Mr. Heartless” is opens with the same 3 or so chords I have heard on the numerous times on the album (A minor, C, G…). Vocally, the duo is very strong together here. Lyrically, it’s a very slight shift, telling about the love lost and desire to rekindle that love with Mr. Heartless. It’s a pretty track, but at this point I wish had a little more depth to it. I feel the lyrics scratch at the surface of an idea and never really dive much deeper. “Moon” is the … same chord progression. It’s tired now. The song is about two lovers who bring each other happiness when they’re blue. Yet again, lyrically that is exactly what the song says. It just feels very amateur sounding. The song does pick up into a more festive psuedo-Mumford and Sons sound at the chorus. “Wild and Free” is bouncy little track on acoustic guitar with some light strings added to the background. It’s nice little addition. It’s a change in pace in lyrics, as the song is about enjoying your freedom and not getting bogged down by all life’s worries. It’s alright. “Eden” is one of the longest tracks on album, at 3 minutes and 28 seconds. The chords are the same chords I have heard throughout the album. It’s very indie singer/songwriter starter kit sounding. The opening lyrics, “I wear my heart on my shirt, on my sleeve and I hope that for my sake that it beats, and that it bleeds…” are just so generic and amateur. It ends with our singer sticking with Eve through their fall from Eden. It’s just … meh. The last track, “Evil is Time” was one I just couldn’t finish. The chorus goes: “Saying, I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I Thought we had time I. I. I. I ….Thought we had much more time….” The repeating I’s did me in. I couldn’t get past the first chorus.
Overall, this album is just not for me. I don’t think it is terrible record. I think the duo has a great foundation to start with. I hope they continue to hone their sound and continue to work on their song writing. I think with more diversity lyrically and sonically on this album, it would be a very nice record. The songs are all very short, with only 3 breaking the 3 minute mark. To be so short and rather slow didn’t work for me. The lead singer has a very Matt Nathanson quality about his voice, which is nice. I think the band has a lot of potential. Their first album for me though, is just rather meh. The standout tracks from this album are:
- “Empire”
- “Enchante”
My overall rating: 3 out of 10 heart containers
