|Routines| Routines 2| This Is All | news | messages | 
| |Routines| Routines 2| This Is All | news | messages | |
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(Teletext, Saturday, September 9th 2006) A nebulous creation borne out of the band Barefoot Contessa, Helene Dineen and Graham Gargiulo retained their songwriting partnership under the simple moniker Helene to allow Dineen's fragile, soulful voice to become the focus — and it’s a remarkable focus at that. A well-travelled instrument, having lived in Israel, London and Berlin at various junctures, at times her vocal is quite plainly British, while at others it coos with a soft Gallic lilt. This second album is a similarly experienced, richly varied tapestry of sounds and creative techniques that combine bluesy and folk-pop notes underpinned by rockier sounds. From poignant, philosophical numbers like Sammy Is A Soldier Now to Beat Dream, a powerful instrumental torrent that positively zings with high-octane guitars, these songs are anything but routine. With such an experienced band behind her, Dineen can rely on some carefully crafted, extraordinary musicality to back up that voice, and boy does she make the most of her crew. First single This Is All We Have To Know is a sweetly penned, guitar-centric ode to love, concluding that it is “better breath than air”, while Forever In A Day allows the band to unfurl their shapely rock wings in a distinctly refreshing manner. Dineen’s vocal lovinglyechoes the guitar melody and is bolstered by brilliant, hard-edged bridges that should seem out of place but work surprisingly well. Outstanding totems of individuality are found also in Nothing To You and I Need A Girl. The former edges away from the band’s sweeter side with an evidently Dylan-influenced ditty with a sumptuous refrain that proclaims “I can’t be all things to everyone and nothing to you”, while the latter — a fantastic duet with Gargiulo — takes classic folk influences with an intriguing male/female dynamic and a twist to its tale. It seems wrong not to mention every song in turn — each one seems to grow and resonate more with every play — but that’s half the joy of the album and it would be a crime to spoil it. Routines, then; always a pleasure, never a chore! (Gem Nethersole, Wears The Trousers October 5th 2006) Seeing as we're currently knee-deep in a purple-patch of female singer-songwriters, there's always the distinct possibility that someone really special might slip through the net and be left for future generations to rediscover... then plaster all over a mobile phone advert. As such, Helene is well worth a look right now - with her second LP Routines showcasing the baked country style of the eponymous songstress whose distinct Englishness pervades throughout. Opening through the piano/guitar coalition of Firstlastforever, Helene displays an obvious parallel with the work of Mazzy Star - as fragrant vocals are buffeted in a most pleasing way by all manner of blossom scented melodies. Firming things up for next song Apostle, Helene strays pleasingly into the early catalogue of Lush for some jangling solitude, before Could I Go Backwards arrives with a poignant and achingly piquant lament that successfully references the Wizard Of Oz. Polished to perfection by Simon Raymonde on production duties, Routines is the kind of album that takes you away from the humdrum of Blair's Britain and allows you to float away to more innocent climes. And for that, we salute her! Delicious. (Boomkat) Helene's name derives from the vocalist's christian name, which always makes me nervous. Despite my vociferous campaigning however, there remains no band in existence called 'Dave'. Anyway, Routines is the follow up album to 2003's impressive, yet not groundbreaking, Postcard. The formula is essentially the same, with Helene Dineen's vocals unsurprisingly to the fore, generally with a low key acoustic background. The vocals are lovely in a girly, melancholic way, but perhaps not enough is done to vary the tone. The highlights are provided by single This Is All We Have To Know, which has the perfect haunting guitar backing to contrast with the vertigo inducing high notes of the chorus. Similarly successful is the brief St Lawrence, which somehow manages to pull off having the word "alone" repeated ten times for the chorus, without becoming depressing. In tune with the current trend, there's a marked country feel to the album, from the sedate and bluesy Nothing To You (where the vocals take on a smoky haze) to the spaghetti Western inspired instrumental, Beat Dream. Sometimes the arrangements are at odds with the voice though, particularly on the almost seven minute long album finale O Tina, which pounds on incessantly and painfully, far longer than it should be allowed to. This album needs a couple of listens to really be appreciated; and on the whole there's a lot to be appreciated. An album of high songwriting and vocal quality that is let down just occasionally by the instrumental backing. (Sounds XP Alternative Music Webzine, July 19th 2006) Did you like Mazzy Star? If so, then may I suggest some Helene? It's tough to compare anyone to Hope Sandoval because there is a whole package with Sandoval that is tough to match up to. However, Helene's voice has that same sexy seductive quality that launched a thousand crushes on Sandoval in the 90's. And the instrumentation has that somber dark VU essence while remaining catchy enough to suck you in. Last month, England's Helene released their second album, Routines and I've been pulling it up on my iPod repeatedly. I came across the album while poking through a bunch of "Best of 2006" lists on emusic a few weeks ago. The downside to them is that there isn't much about them on the internet. Their myspace site doesn't have much info and their page on Series 8 Records is a bunch of gobilygook about themes for the songs and whatnot. The amusing thing is that neither their myspace site nor their label mentions any comparison to Mazzy Star. It's as if they think that if they don't mention it, nobody will notice it. It's like John Cleese in Fawlty Towers yelling to everyone, "Don't mention the war!" when the German guests arrive. Oh, well, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that they crank out beautiful tunes. (False 45th Tuesday, August 15th, 2006) Ch, ch, ch. Come here, don’t be afraid, we won't hurt you. Like a little kitten just finding its feet in the world, you feel the need to coax Helene out into the limelight. Pawing softly and timidly through the alleys where Feist and Neko Case have been known to wander, she has the kind of voice that’s instantly captivating, and you sense that she has something worthwhile and earnest to say. At times the softness of the songs is perfect, such as in tracks Firstlastforever and This Is All We Have To Know. Unfortunately this quaint meandering doesn’t hold you for very long, as it’s just too polite, too nice. And yet the slowness present isn’t necessarily a flaw, and the music doesn’t deserve to belong to the background. You’re patient, and listen carefully. With a little time, care and nurturing it may well find its way into your heart. But right now the vocals seem simply too quiet and hidden beneath the instruments, they aren’t quite powerful enough to get out. Come on Helene. Speak up. Just a little louder, just a little stronger, you’re nearly there. (Nathania Hartley, Maps Magazine) Helene is a band fronted by vocalist Helene Dineen, and made up of Graham (guitar, vocals), Ian (guitars), Annemarie (bass) and James (drums). They are clearly a band on first name terms. Routines (Series 8 (UK) SER001CD, 2006) is the band's second album following their 2002 debut Postcard, a disc Q mentioned in the same breath as Mazzy Star and The Velvet Underground. So it's perhaps surprisingly that following such an accolade, the new CD shows a marked change in direction with much more of a country feel to a number of the songs, and some pared back arrangements all of which serves to throw Helene's soft, childlike voice even further to the fore than was the case with their debut. Where the simple arrangements work, say on the spooky and intimately hypnotic Routines, the result is impressive, and the country-tinged songs like the short opener First Last Forever, the slide guitar washed Could I Go Backwards, and Nothing To You are pleasant enough, and This Is All We Have To Know has a gorgeous little chorus. Certainly fans of Helene's voice are going to enjoy this album immensely. But that doesn't hide the fact that there's a problem underlying the whole album, and that's the arrangement of the songs. It's said that whilst a good arrangement can rescue a poor song, a poor arrangement can bury the very best written work. As an example, Apostille is the strongest piece of writing on the disc by some distance, a really impressive song, but sadly it's rendered virtually unlistenable by the dreadfully repetitive 4:4 rhythm in which every instrument just pounds away on every beat throughout. It's one of the most ill-judged arrangements in a long, long time, and the sin is repeated on sections of both Forever In A Day and on O Tina. Elsewhere, a number of the songs remain dynamically flat because there's no variation of arrangement within a piece. A song starts, continues in exactly the same way, and then just stops. Whilst the band should be applauded for trying something new and not simply repeating their debut album, greater thought and imagination with the arrangements could well have made this something special. Their shift of musical emphasis has basically proved successful as the country tinged tracks are among the most enjoyable on the disc, though perhaps more Cowboy Junkies than Mazzy Star this time around. You can order this CD directly from the label. Ultimately, whether you get on with Routines will largely depend on how you feel about Helene's voice. (Jamie Field in Hereford, England, Musical Discoveries, 8th July 2006) Helene's second album, and the follow up to Postcard from 2003, sounds like a much more uptempo indie pop Mazzy Star crossed with the Velvet Underground "Sweet Jane" period. The album mellows out from time to time and delves into a bit of country with some lovely slide guitar and a sound reminiscent of the great Cowboy Junkies. Produced by Simon Raymonde from The Cocteau Twins. (Shop Til Ya Drop With Dave And Julie, Road Records, Ireland, July 2006) "velvet underground; will oldham; bert jansch; f. scott-fitzgerald; felt; kryzstof kieslowski; smokey robinson; belle and sebastian; laura nyro; robert bresson; ozu; jean cocteau; nancy sinatra; jerry seinfeld; bob dylan; abbas kiorastami; john fowles; gretsch duojet; american analog set; andrei tarkosvky; flannery o'conner; franz kafka; a continuing, if increasingly misguided, faith in humanity..." Queste le influenze dichiarate dalla bella Helene su Myspace. Non conoscevo questa ragazza che giorno dopo giorno ha imposto la sua attenzione nella scaletta del mio iTunes. Curiosano ho visto che l’album d’esordio, Postcard (2003), aveva recensioni interessanti, per cui credo che questo Routines sia una buona conferma. Già l’intro Firstlastforever un po’ PJ Harvey ben dispone all’ascolto e poi ci sono pezzi che non possono restare in sottofondo come This Is All We Have To Know che mi ricorda Nancy Sinatra, la troppo "commovente" Sammy Is A Soldier Now, il Calexico sound di Beat Dream, la bellissima title-track in paesaggi Mazzy Star, e nel finale il crescendo di O Tina! Dolci melodie e ballate strappalacrime, un suono dream pop con tocco folk, con la produzione di Simon Raymonde (ex Cocteau-Twins). Insomma, un disco che merita attenzione. Try this if you like Mazzy Star, Nancy Sinatra, Cat Power. (Eye On Music, Blog City September 12th 2006) Apesar de ser movido criativamente por dois músicos e compositores, Helene Dineen e Graham Gargiulo, a escolha do nome próprio da cantora para designação do projecto coloca um acento tónico na sua voz aveludada enquanto elemento dominador desta música e seu constituinte mais destacado. É em torno da voz de Helene que gira toda a construção musical audível em «Routines». A partir da nevralgia melódica que se projecta da elegância e convicção lânguida da sua vibração vocal, dá-se a agregação de elementos folk e rock reverberantes, por vezes psicadélicos, que fazem ecoar a precisão dos diálogos dinâmicos estabelecidos no binómio guitarra / piano e na dualidade aromática das composições, espartilhadas pela doçura de uma balada distante e pela correria intimista de paisagens mais sujas e comburentes. Sem que seja possível estabelecer paralelos evidentes com a música de Helene, «Routines» acaba por se situar num lugar acolhedor, cujas coordenadas cruzam o bucolismo arrastado dos Mazzy Star, a electricidade controlada dos My Bloody Valentine, a sombra irradiante da formação fundadora dos Velvet Underground e a militância de Bob Dylan. Tudo controlado minuciosamente pela produção irrepreensível de Simon Raymonde (dos Cocteau Twins), que acrescenta brilho, limpidez e inevitabilidade a um disco que é pecado ignorar. (O Dominio Dos Deuses, Radio Universitaria Do Minho, Portugal, March 2007) Helene’s debuutalbum, Postcard (2003), werd in positieve zin vergeleken met het werk van Mazzy Star. Opvolger Routines (Series 8 / Konkurrent) bevindt zich in diezelfde hoek, zij het dat de vanuit Londen opererende vijfmansformatie ditmaal meer country-invloeden in de muziek verwerkt en de lieflijke stem van zangeres Helene Dineen nadrukkelijker voor in de mix zit. (OOR, Netherlands) Helene: Postcard. Uniradio Deutschland album of the week 31.7-6.8 2006. Back |