No Word From Tom

by

Hem

Edit

It's easy to dismiss an album of covers, demos, outtakes and live tracks when it follows a small body of original, distinctive work.

But that is precisely the reason to embrace No Word From Tom. Hem, an eight-piece collective from Brooklyn, N.Y., has found a way to extend the charm previously exhibited on two acclaimed albums, the folky Rabbit Songs and polished Eveningland.

Perhaps Hem's biggest asset is the exquisite voice of Sally Ellyson. She uses it to elevate memorable compositions by Dan Messe. Live renditions of "Betting on Trains" and "All That I'm Good For" soar as Ellyson takes advantage of slow tempo and fresh arrangements to weave a lush vocal tapestry. She continues to work her magic on "Cincinnati Traveler," which was originally released as an instrumental.

When Ellyson auditioned for the band, she gave Messe a "lullaby tape," featuring a cappella versions of traditional songs. Several of those gems have been re-recorded. Two of them - one with added guitar and harmony vocals - shine here.

Covers include a honky-tonk classic ("Crazy Arms") and an R.E.M. standard ("South Central Rain").

What is appealing about Hem is the band's affection for traditional American music. What is impressive is the band's willingness to experiment by combining traditional themes with contemporary arrangements. The songs on this CD are bits of Americana, enhanced by diverse instrumentation.

Fans of Hem will find this collection enchanting. But those looking for an introduction to the band might do well to pick up one of the full-length studio albums that inspired it.

This is one of those "not-quite new albums" that recording artists occasionally release to plug a gap while touring and/or working on a forthcoming opus: live versions of their own previously recorded songs; tracks that didn't make the final cut of the previous album; fragments and covers, odds and ends. As a representative of its kind, "No Word From Tom" holds up as a pleasant and surprisingly seamless (I'm trying *hard* to stay away from the sewing puns) collection -- if there are things here that don't quite sink in and stay with you, there's certainly nothing painful. On a good night, this group can be a mesmerizing live act, and also an enterprising and inventive one in terms of adapting its often heavily instrumented concoctions to the limitations of a small-group live performance. The four "Rabbit Songs" tracks that get the in-concert treatment here may make some fans wish for a full-length live disc or DVD. Both "All That I'm Good For" and "Betting On Trains" surpass their familiar studio versions on the strength of the greater assurance and confidence of Sally Ellyson's singing, as well as more vibrant recorded sound ("Rabbit Songs" had a slight bleariness to its recording quality; its rawness appealed to some, but the live versions point out that it's not the only way to hear these songs). Elsewhere, there are expanded versions of a couple of the short instrumentals heard between tracks on "Eveningland" (including a "Cincinnati Traveler" with words); a not-quite-finished outtake from same album; another a capella selection from Ms. Ellyson's audition tape; and a guitar/mandolin-backed alternative version of "Lazy Eye," this author's favorite track from the debut disc. The covers are of greater interest -- characteristically wide-ranging in their selection, if, more often than not, pleasantly predictable in their execution. Hem has previously draped its relaxed, understated, lulling Americana velvet over songs by everyone from Elvis Costello to Bruce Springsteen (odd that "Valentine's Day," a comparative rarity available via download, isn't on this disc) to Johnny and June Carter Cash; here, the same treatment is given to Brook Benton ("Rainy Night in Georgia") and R.E.M. (a gorgeous "South Central Rain" that alone is worth the price of purchase). The group flirts with more of a pop approach on Fountains of Wayne's quirky "Radiation Vibe," and gives a surprisingly wholehearted embrace to honky-tonk on "Crazy Arms" (chiefly associated with Patsy Cline, but no doubt done by others), on which Ellyson foregoes her usual seductive murmuring and insinuating and comes as close as she ever does to really belting one out. This collection would not be the best buy for a newcomer, and some of the faithful may grumble that it's a little early in Hem's career for a "filler album"; but for most of us, it will do until the real thing comes along, as they say.