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Hurricane Bells are big, heavy bells that are hung in trees to warn of impending doom. Well, at least stormy weather. Rather a misnomer in this case as Steve Schiltz’s debut album isn’t stormy at all. It’s mostly mellow, late night, fireplace and fine wine music. Schiltz is best known as a member of the guitar heavy band, Longwave, but has done a 180° turn from there. Hurricane Bells came into being after Schiltz and company finished touring in support of Longwave’s recent album, Secrets Are Sinister and Schiltz’s desire to do something different. Tonight Is The Ghost has some similarities with Longwave’s music, they both sound a bit like The Postal Service and The National, although Longwave is rockier and louder, so fans of Longwave will still find this album accessible even though it is on the quieter side of things. Those who are discovering Hurricane Bells through the New Moon soundtrack may find it a bit disappointing. Unlike the riff-driven Monster’s, this album is dominated by soaring atmospherics and understated arrangements.

Schiltz did everything on this album himself. He played all the instruments and recorded it in his basement using just a MacBook and Mbox. This might account for some of the unevenness I hear in the production. It’s not enough to get in the way of things and certainly not enough to really complain about but some folks might find it annoying. There are a lot of reverb and overdubs on here but they only serve to fill out the sparse arrangements and don’t overpower the delicacy of the songs. The only other small quibble I have is that at times it can be lyrically uneven.

The first song on the album, This Year, makes a strong opening statement. It starts off quietly with just Schiltz’s smooth tenor and a simple guitar but slowly builds until the 1:54 mark when the snare kicks in and the tension increases. It’s a great song to introduce Hurricane Bells to the listener. However, I wish I could say that the album builds upon this. The second song, This Is A Test, although very radio friendly, didn’t do anything for me, I think mostly because of some awkward rhyming. It is followed by I Can’t Remember. These two songs are probably the weakest on an otherwise good debut album. There are two instrumental tracks as well. Crocodile smartly between Darkness Is So Deep, a satisfyingly dancey tune which breaks up the album nicely and has a cool bass line, and Freezing Rain, that has a travelling beat and a echoing vocal that gives the tune a surreal quality, while the thumping Tenterhooks ends the album with a sonic bang.

The Cold Has Killed Us, my personal favourite, has some of the strongest writing on this album. It has a gorgeous melody full of subtlety and airiness. There is a lot of space in this song, Schiltz has wisely chosen to keep it simple and not fill it with a lot of atmospheric clutter. Lyrically it is a stand out with it’s allusions to ghosts and loss. “The cold has killed us and tonight now it knows it can hide what it shows, you are just all but out of my hands. Long dead children who are floating above the lost and in love, they can’t not make this easy to understand.” This and Winters In New York are probably the best, lyrically, on the album. Winters also has a terrific guitar solo for those who think this is just another shoe-gazer.

For those contemplating buying this album, it currently available only as a digital download with a hard-copy release scheduled for Feb. 2010. Unfortunately or fortunately for Schiltz the unexpected release of Monsters on the New Moon soundtrack forced him to push the release date of this album ahead. Currently This Is The Ghost is only available from iTunes.

You can find more information on him on MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook.

Hurricane Bells – This Year
Hurricane Bells – The Cold Has Killed Us