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Hello Blue Roses is the debut musical collaboration between Dan Bejar and his girlfriend, the talented and renowned visual artist Sydney Vermont. Perhaps it's not really fair, when listening, to think of Bejar's phenomenal prior work with his band, Destroyer, and the side projects Swan Lake and the New Pornographers. If only this were another obscure folk record on the awesome Locust label, one might give it a more fair shake. As it stands, Bejar's warm, odd voice does not jibe well with the voice of the former Toronto Children's Choir singer. Hers occupies a far higher register, somewhere between those of Kate Bush and Regina Spektor. But it's more than that. Trained voices do not always mesh well with messy, untrained indie-rock singing. (Notable exceptions include CocoRosie and Will Oldham's album,
Sings Greatest Palace Music, with Nashville session musicians.) The pretty "Shadow Falls" recalls the electronic sounds of the 1980s, and Bejar and Vermont duet very well on this song suited to the whispery, restrained vocals of both. Elsewhere, though, on the album's '70s folk-poppy tunes, their vocals clash more often than not.
--Mike McGonigal
