Guitars guitars guitars. When did you last hear a new band who's main focus is on guitars? Londoner Tilman Hartley's debut album To Basics is all about the guitars, teeming with frazzled barre chords and captivating riffs.
Among all the near-faultless guitar playing Hartley's vocals have a tendency to veer all over the place. On "Belle de Jour" it's difficult to tell whether the song is supposed to be satirical or sincere. In what is one of the more bizarre attempts of someone telling a character's story through song Hartley sings "She wanted to work in cancer research really/But for that she didn't have enough money/Prostitution left her days free for her PhD." The lyrics definitely command attention, and the songs ends with the protagonist writing a book "for TV", but the wavering vocals make it all sound a bit insincere. But then maybe it's supposed to. It's difficult to tell if it's a joke that you're not in on or if it's meant to be serious. The contrast between skillful guitar playing and jumpy vocals makes it difficult to know what this song's about or how it should be interpreted. Serious guitars? Not-so-serious vocals? Can guitars even be serious? Either way, it's a confusing song to try to make sense of but it definitely doesn't lack interesting themes.
Fortunately the guitar playing is consistently brilliant throughout the album. "I Think There's Going Be A War" is a searing mix of bleeding guitars and keyboards, "No Lies" is an acoustic track with tinges of ever-present electric guitars while "Wait For It" is a ragged, circling song that comes close to straying into grunge territory.
But what do we learn about Tilman Hartley from To Basics? The guitars are uncompromising and are at the forefront of this album. They never get boring or fade into the background and they guide the album along. Hartley's vocals, while unconventional, do have an interesting unpolished quality to them, but this can take away from the impact of the songs. The vocals aren't the greatest, but, like the guitars on this album, Hartley's never boring.
