Blue Mountain Belle - Blue Mtn Belle

Blue Mountain Belle

Blue Mtn Belle
self-released; 2014

3.8 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

It won’t take long for you to appreciate the recent EP Blue Mtn Belle by Blue Mountain Belle. Don’t get me wrong – the music sounds great but the vocals are unequivocally the focal center. Stephanie Hamood has a voice that is confident yet feminine. It oozes with warmth and carelessly dances around the music. 

The band style is varied and has elements from a number of different genres. It contains a dreamy atmosphere while implementing styles like folk, old time country and even jazz. It’s very enjoyable music that is easy on the ears not only because of the style they chose to play but the high production value. 

First up is a sprawling ambient song entitled “Silent Film.” The song has a slow BPM and builds with emotion as it progresses. I really enjoyed the drumming by Brandon Delis on this track as his snare rolls and beat added a lot of momentum to the track. Hamood gives a passionate, rather beautiful (I don’t use that word lightly) performance that soars but also contains a decent amount of melancholy. 

“Lost With You” is quite a stylistic deviation from the first song. It has a straight 50’s country Patsy Cline vibe. The song is good even though sequentially it felt a bit inconsistent. “Porcelain Girls” still has a country vibe minus the 50’s country pop. The style on this song felt contemporary. This wasn’t good or bad, just different. The vocal work was great but I also enjoyed the subtle banjo that was in the mix.

The album ends with “Should We Fall,” which contains atmospheric reverb-laced guitar, light percussion (Delis breaks out the brushes) and arguably the best vocal melody on the EP.

Overall, Blue Mountain Belle sounds great and can write a tune. Stylistically, they still seem to be discovering who they are as a band but pieces seem to be falling into place. Job well done - I’m looking forward to hearing more from this group.

Become A Fan

official website