Hello, Blue Roses “Fails to Capture the Beauty” of Latest Release

6.5/10

In an era full of side projects and solo acts, yet another has emerged on the scene. The Portrait is Finished and I Have Failed to Capture Your Beauty marks the first release from the duo of Dan Bejar (of the New Pornographers) and female vocalist Sydney Vermont’s band Hello, Blue Roses.

Bejar quipped that his latest project would include songs that are “completely untethered to any of the bulls--- streams coursing through the scene right now...a product of not really caring what people think, but still caring a lot about people." It's often an amusing cliché to hear indie artists criticizing their scene and promising to redefine it and it's more of the same old story here Bejar and Vermont create a stripped-down folk album that isn’t half bad, but don't be in a hurry to run out and buy it.

The first two tracks of the album, “Hello Blue Roses” and “Scarecrow” each have a very Simon & Garfunkel-like folkiness to them. They use minimal instrumentation, relying solely on Vermont’s cherubic voice and the ever-present acoustic guitar.

The album’s feel throughout is very sleepy and dreamy, containing few songs with an upbeat pace. The album pace is peaked on the song “St. Angela,” and that’s simply because it included drums. While it is intimate and has a strong feeling of personal passion between the two of them, the album falls flat on its face in terms of being unique and evocative.

The Portrait is Finished... is monotonous and the songs all sound the same. One song blends into another, and 40 minutes later it all comes to an end. No song in particular grabs your attention and could even be considered a recognizable song when played on its own.

Plus, on a more personal note, it was incredibly annoying and bland to have them start almost every song with the title of the song. It seems petty, but after listening to song after song start with Vermont with the track’s name, it loses its novelty incredibly fast.

Best Tracks: Hello Blue Roses, Shadow Falls/ Worst Tracks: Any other track on the album

-Joe Kepler