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[Off The Record]
Stars graphics
Spain
I BELIEVE
(RESTLESS)

Keeping things at a slow hush without inducing the nods is a challenge. In the instrumental arena, Tortoise are the reigning contemporary champions; in the field of pop songcraft, it’s Spain, singer/bassist/songman Josh Haden’s eight-year-old outfit. On their third album, Spain continue to sidestep the usual rock attention getters like riffs, power chords, vocal tricks, and noise for Haden’s low-key signatures: whispery vocals, beds of acoustic guitar, spare keyboard melodies, and rhythms that purr along. The result is genuinely moody, whether Haden is singing about his latest infatuation or romantic deflation. What keeps these 10 songs interesting is the dancing cadences of Haden’s breathy voice and his sense of harmony, which means even a two-note electric-guitar riff like the one that keeps surfacing in the verses of " She Haunts My Dreams " brings a textural richness to his spare arrangements. It also helps that he’s got a skill for constructing hooks from smart turns of phrase, and for laying such a lovely melody on simple repetitions like the chorus of " Born To Love Her " that his numbers invite repeated listening.

BY TED DROZDOWSKI

Issue Date: May 31 - June 7, 2001





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