The Very Hush Hush - Mourir C'est Facile

For a band whose very name suggests an inclination towards the quieter side of things, The Very Hush Hush certainly understand the value of a scream. Or maybe that’s just it. As any musician knows (and as the band themselves acknowledge in an interview), the fact that it stops is what makes any sound significant. And on Mourir C’est Facile, The Very Hush Hush unleash sound in torrents. The pounding of the drums, the fuzz and growl of feedback, the wrath of the guitars as they soar and pulse; most of the album plays out like a storm rendered elegantly in song. The pieces that don’t, such as the somber synth washes of album opener “Forever” and the title track, or the momentary lulls in “Every Little” and “The City Light,” provide the perfect counterpoint to the cresting melodies of songs like “The Slow Destroyer” and “Coup de Main” with their tone of hushed resignation. Sadly, the lyrics don’t measure up to the music, but then, they seem meant to play second fiddle anyway. Buried beneath the avalanche of sound, they serve a more subliminal function, indicative perhaps of how insignificant words are next to the welter of emotions they attempt to express. And the storm-tossed landscape The Very Hush Hush unveil is most certainly an emotional one, by turns angry, despondent, and contemplative, but always rich on account. In the end, that's what truly impresses about Mourir C’est Facile: its synthetic prowess. The way it fuses emotion with the environs around it, just as it blends elements of electronic music with basic drum beats and juxtaposes sound with silence, making for an album whose complex world is fractured, nebulous, and ultimately, enthralling. [www.theveryhushhush.com]