3 out of 5

Label: Secretly Canadian

Produced by: Ryan Murphy?

Havergal: A swirling of the vaguest of feelings that, if chance allows, coalesce into something out of its apparent nothings; something with the potential to be affecting, to be momentous.  But sometimes it just remains as that swirl, percolating ever so slightly into a solid idea before retreating.

Havergal might be a band, it might be a single person.  A very well written review here suggests it’s the latter, creation of Ryan Murphy – owner of Western Vinyl – and points out some of the possible interpretations on Elettricita, Haverhal’s second album, which either eluded me or I wouldn’t have picked up on.  Havergal’s self-titled first disc, also on Secretly Canadian, was similarly miasmic, but also a lot more identifiable, in a way: There were pictures of people; it sounded like an indie slowcore band.  Here we have no pictures, and I’d struggle to label the sound.  For all the good and bad that cam suggest.

The bad is when it’s undefined.  I often had trouble listening to the record in one go; song construction is pretty similar – shuffles of sounds evolve into clipped drums, and then monotone singing of a mixture of silly and soulful thoughts – but the album itself ebbs and flows, the feelings and ideas sort of stacking upon each other to peak at particular points… Then ebbing again.  There are only a few peaks, so there are at least a few ebbs.  And once you’re used to Havergal’s general sound – even though there’s admittedly  a lot of nuance there – it’s easy for the sounds to get lost in your headphones, or over the speakers.

But the good parts are very memorable.  All of those swirling details finding the right combination – Parachute, Lamafrequency – and each element makes more impact, has more depth.  You feel what’s been said, you’re moved along with the slow but steady current of the music.

And although this might make it sound less consistent than their debut, Havergal’s – or Murphy’s – Elettricita feels more legit, and from the heart.  And thus it is flawed, and maybe makes for a three star review on some random dude’s blog.  But I’m glad that I own it, and glad I have the opportunity to male such judgments about it.