Hayley Sabella “King Solomon” Album Review

I don’t really know what to classify Hayley Sabella’s music as…all I know is that I absolutely adore it. When people talk about a voice as an instrument, they don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what that means in comparison to Ms. Sabella. I have never witnessed another performer with more vocal control than she has and that fact is at the fore front of her new record “King Solomon”. Where her previous EP “Farm Fingers” had a more acoustic feel to it, this full length is just that, it’s full. Where her unique guitar style filled in a lot of the percussive parts in the last record, full and throbbing drum parts are inserted. With wonderful guest musicians, vibrant and exciting arrangements and Sabella’s emotional songwriting at the heart of it all, “Solomon” will quickly become a mainstay in your music library.

I’d love to recommend a song or two from this record for you, but the fact is I can’t because every one of the 12 songs are so unique, exceptional and powerful on their own. So I’ll just go through a couple.

“Farm Fingers” gets some new full band treatment here and it’s truly great. I loved this song both live and on the EP and the best parts are still in there (listen for the call/response layering at the end, its intense). Rather than taking an emotion driven and raw original arrangement and overpowering it with production, the song is given some new and captivating life. I think that is a true testament of the care and love that went into this recording.

“King Solomon” has this beat that seems slightly off to the verse that is incredibly intriguing to me. It’s heavy on the pulsing of the drum and has a great sliding picked out guitar line. It’s the little choices that Sabella makes on tracks like this that make her tunes stand so far out from many of her counterparts. The music is just gripping.

“Up & Away Go” is something that starts with a Punch Brothers-esque arrangement. Utilizing instruments to play constrasting parts that somehow weave together seamlessly and result in gorgeous harmony. It starts off with some kind of jumbling noise that gets mixed into the full track. Just really smart and fascinating choices throughout. Of course, as you would expect Hayley’s voice is on full display as well.

Hayley’s songwriting is great. Its thoughtful, it has its own uniqueness, sincerely moving with great substance and memorable lines. Her poetry is familiar enough that you will love it and sing along, but is out of the box. Its inimitable, it is exclusively her.

The production values are premium but not so much that you are blinded by the shine and polish. She brought a tiny bit of the dirt from the fields into the studio with her and for that I am eternally grateful.

The textures here are incredibly deep. There is gradation upon gradation of level to the gravity of each track on the record. It’s warm but somehow crisp, a delicate balance of heaviness and light, airy beauty. The songs just shine. Hayley stretches the boundaries of what vocal and harmony work is throughout the entire album (though you shouldn’t let that deter you from her great finger style guitar work!). Take that coupled with the soaring violin lines of Eva Walsh, the absolutely astounding banjo work of Mark Whitaker and a rhythm section that is truly the glue of the collection and you really have something special here.

This is the kind of music that you breathe in and it sticks to your soul. It lasts with you long after the song has ended. That is truly something beautiful and special.

You can stream King Solomon and also buy it on Hayley’s bandcamp page: http://hayleysabella.bandcamp.com/

For show dates and all that goodness, check out her website: http://hayleysabella.com/