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Apr 26, 2024 Web Exclusive By Daniel Gard’ner

A double album carries hard-wired associations, an unavoidable gravity of intent. A self-titled double album adds fuel to the fire; it’s an unequivocal statement, a neon-lit framing of a record as a defining artistic moment. That Texas-bred slow-pop practitioners Hovvdy have made this leap on their new release may initially come as a surprise, but the extended format suits them; their hushed, intimate storytelling is given the required space to slowly unwind and cast a quiet spell.

Charlie Martin and Will Taylor perfected a specific mood across Hovvdy’s four previous albums, a hazy dream-state of youthful longing and faded memory. The same rich atmosphere is conjured on Hovvdy, but the record is an expansion of the band’s aesthetic, a broadening of scope that matches the evolving complexity of their lives. For starters, they no longer live in the same state (Taylor is based in Nashville and Martin in St. Louis), and Taylor is a father now, with the accompanying altered perspective that parenthood inevitably brings. Defining experiences are recognized for what they are here; the loss of a grandfather (“Make Ya Proud”), the regret of love taken for granted (gorgeous album closer “A Little”) and rendered with a clear eye.

The record was co-produced by the band with frequent collaborators Andrew Sarlo and Bennett Littlejohn, and the team explore a spectrum of subtle extremes. The live, roomy sound of tracks like “Make Ya Proud” and “Meant” convey an immediacy that has sometimes been lacking in the band’s previous work, which often sounded like it was refracted through a dusty lens. At the other end of the spectrum is the snapshot reveal of a song like “Angel,” where Martin’s vocals float by on the gentle backdrop of a running creek, or the programmed minimalism of “Every Exchange” that beams in like a futurist lullaby.

If at times you crave for something unhinged across these 19 songs, the sonic equivalent of a psychic break to disrupt the constant temperate mood, you inevitably fall back on Martin and Taylor’s fluid warmth. Their transition into scarred adult terrain still sounds remarkably peaceful. (www.hovvdy.com)

Author rating: 7/10