With Play The Hits, up-and-coming Irish quartet Hal have delivered us a
preview of the sound of summer, and it sounds care-free, exciting, and fun.
But it's not all sunshine and ice cream for Play The Hits.
Having recently toured with The Thrills and Doves, Hal have
been busy lighting up venues where ever they go. The multi-layered,
lusciously textured Play The Hits manages to incorporate
diverse instrumentation without creating a cluttered monster of a song.
Instead, it whistles along like a cooling breeze on a summers
day.
It is, however, not without its flaws: Singer Dave Allen's voice is perfect for
Hal, indeed Play The Hits boasts some gorgeous vocal harmonies - but when Allen breaks into falsetto, something quite horrible happens, and the
result is little short of annoying. As if that wasn't enough, an extremely out of place synth
cameos after the first chorus, tainting all around it. The new
Thrills? Not quite, but Hal have produced
a very likeable summer anthem. Nice stuff.
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