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| HOME | REVIEWS AND RADIO PERFORMANCES | Hot Press Magazine (2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hot Press (Feb, 2006)
» Steafán Hanvey: Steafán Hanvey and The
HoneyMoon Junkies
7 out of 10
Steafán Hanvey's debut is a rare delight, a singer-songwriter record which eschews introspection and deals in sparkling, dare I say it, feel-good, melodies.
The scion of a County Down folk family, Hanvey was studying sound engineering in Seattle when grunge broke, and these disparate influences give the album a restless, brittle enthusiasm.
He deploys electric and acoustic guitar with delicate menace, sheathing his songs in weird, almost industrial treatments. Chamber-rock is also a clear influence-often the singer seems to deploy everything but the kitchen sink, as he strains towards a classic pop mélange. Lyrically, Hanvey travels to some dark places-the psychedelic dirge 'Everyone's Happy' suggests precisely the opposite-yet his song craft is shot through a wide-eyed optimism.
You may have already encountered the record's lead single, 'Hundred Days of Snow', an uplifting swirl of dissonance and sunshine. On radio, it sounds infectiously sweet. Here it is less distinguished-a back-handed commendation that says something for the impressive quality of the rest of the LP.
SEVEN/TEN Ed Power
