Hyperstory

Hyperstory

(Pureland)

Record Review by Amber Henson

You know those songs that, when you hear them for the first time, sound so familiar?  For me, one of the most memorable songs that I assumed had been around forever was KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.”  I thought it was an old song come back into rotation, but that’s just how some tracks hit us.  Like Hyperstory’s “A Happening.”  There is a chance I’ve heard this song before, as it’s the single, but it’s really more that the melody is so instantly charming that it becomes a fast favorite.  The video for it is a great collage of Los Angeles downtown images, which, since I live here, are recognizable while being foreign, in a strange, personal echo of my own reaction to the song.

The rest of the album continues on with some other familiar sounds.  Occasionally there is some resemblance to a jazzier version of Garbage, or bluesy Beatles-ish melodies.  Track six, “Ascension”, is entirely devoid of lyrics and reminds me of Chris Joss.  Interludes are sprinkled throughout the nine song record, with can’t-quite-understand pronouncements about a god and the sound of turning locks. 

Hyperstory is basically C Scott Blevins, with a lot of support from his talented cohorts, like Julian Cassia, along with an entire horn section that gets a couple of times to show off their chops.  The songs that aren’t interludes run on the epic side of five to six minutes.  Personally, I like my songs around, say, 3:45, but I get where Blevins is trying to take his listeners.

I like this album, and I’m looking forward to see what Blevins will have for us next, although since this album took two years to make it might be a bit.  But that’s okay.  There’s a lot to eat up on Hyperstory; I’m sure it will keep me busy.