April Maybe May - April Maybe May
April Maybe May consist of Rosie Hillman and Matt Kassell, who were later joined by Peter Fitzpatrick and Jake Newton to pad out the bass and percussion, release their self titled album ‘April Maybe May’. Their sound is intriguing, at first it seems like a straightforward approach, and in some ways it is, but the arrangement is the most fascinating thing about it all. The percussion is artfully placed throughout the songs and is used to change the tone of the songs. Album opener ‘Back Home’ is a sugary sweet song, Rosie Hillman’s voice is consistently a joy to listen to and the harmonies are gorgeously rich. It is not only Hillman’s voice that is a joy to listen to, fellow vocalist Matt Kassell’s voice blends beautifully with Hillman’s.
The arrangements and instruments used are beautiful, especially on ‘Bed’. However, sometimes the record can get a bit too twee. There are elements of the album that appear to try too hard to be likeable. Likeability obviously isn’t a bad thing, but it’s all a bit too nice that it’s a bit unbearable, at least to listen to in one go.
It’s an album to listen to alone, an album to listen to when you need to relax. Unfortunately an album to relax to may be all it can be; there doesn’t seem to be enough structure, meaning or bite about it for it to be anything more. There is no denying that parts of it are beautiful, and that Rosie Hillman’s vocals are the undoubted highlight, but it is a record that you expect so much more from; this is increasingly apparent on songs such as ‘Seasalt’.
It would be unfair to call the songs bland, but it would be fair to say that the songs do not do the best job at engaging or pulling in the listener. As beautiful as they are, it takes more than beauty to create an enjoyable album. In particular, an album that deserves repeated listens. Rather regrettably, the songs travel along a similar line and end up sounding the same. ‘Sugar and Mess’ sounds like a song from a forgotten 90s romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts, and if you hadn’t guessed already, that’s not a good thing. April Maybe May can write nice songs. But they are only nice songs; they will not hold your attention and you won’t find yourself humming them the next day.