The mysteriously named artist H.Pe is an Irish-Canadian singer/songwriter from Ayr, Ontario, Canada named Ben Hope. He’s just released his third studio album titled Lines which he calls “electric folk with a tendency to change genres.” The songs themselves are said to be about “how it feels to be here, how it feels to be with each other and how it feels to let go.” I actually recognized this artist from a review of 2020’s Interfaction on the Pitch Perfect site, with one of the best cover photos I’ve ever seen.
Hope cites as influences David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, The Cure, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Glen Hansard and Bon Iver. Tracking details are scarce but the collection was recorded at Old MacDonald Studios in Ayr, with production by Cornelius. H.Pe also has a website with cool graphics and the lyrics to all these songs. As opposed to Interfaction (with its synth-pop beats) or Computer Rock with Notes on Translation (more of a pop rock sound), Lines is an album based on solo electric guitar and vocals, like early Billy Bragg. I definitely hear Glen Hansard, but also U2, which may be the Irish coming through. “Dublin” starts with a lovely, tentative picked guitar motif, with Hope’s lead vocals taking the reins and not letting go. He has a great, emotive voice that reminds me of other singers but is also quite unique. On this track he double-tracks his singing (as on most of the others), with a bit of call and response. At the three- minute mark he takes a dramatic pause which was unexpected and quite cool. The song appears to be about memories of a lost love, whether they be real or imagined; and of course the Irish connection is brought full circle with the song’s title. “Favorite Line” fades in with a faster, Get Back-tempo, both picked and strummed. The guitars for the entire album have a refreshing organic feel, not tied to any click track, thus changing tempo as the song dictates. Not sure what’s going on here lyrically but I love the idea of someone in a relationship saying “That’s my favorite line.” Hope’s vocals are even more richly doubled here. “Wait” leans on just two alternating chords for the verses, which finds Hope yet again yearning for someone and willing to wait. “I’ll never stop ’til I’m loving right / I’m going to wait for you tonight / I’m going to wait for you this time.” For guitar players you can pretty much see the chords Hope is playing in your head, but that takes us all back to the discovery of the guitar as a compositional instrument and how evocative these simple chords can be. With “Gulin Gu” we switch to acoustic (I’m guessing nylon stringed) guitar with an uptempo, vaguely baroque picking scheme. Hope doesn’t really explain who “Gulin Gu” is, but his name makes for a great chorus chant. “She and the Dancer” brings us back to the electric, with sad minor chords strummed like an acoustic. The title of the track pretty much says it all, where Hope has accepted the loss of someone with a stoic “I don’t want to make this right… it’s better to give than to run.” “All My Friends” features almost subliminal whistling to open the track, giving it a sort of “Great Escape” vibe. Hope seems to be feeling the loss of friends and an uncertain special relationship, performed with Glenn Hansard-style anguish. “Hurricane” has a surprisingly sophisticated melodic opening, verging on prog. Overall this song is pitched a bit higher than normal, while retaining that jangly minor key feel. Hope’s lyrics seem simple on the surface and are often variations on the theme of troubled love, but i always have the niggling sense that more is going on than meets my ear. “Carolita” has an opaque, jazz-like riff that’s new and different for this collection, perhaps illustrating lyrics like “It’s what we do / like we try to be cool.” I daresay there’s a touch of The Police here in the vocals and rhythms. “Enemy” has another one of those great H.Pe chorus couplets in “You’re the enemy / you’re the end of me” with chunkier, higher energy guitar playing. The concluding track “Lay Awake at Night and Call it Dancing” has one of the best titles, and brings the tumultuous relationship at the core of this album full circle, without resolution except to lyrically echo some of what’s come before. “There’s something going on / Lay awake and call it dancing / She said / There’s nothing going on…” For some listeners, an album of guitar and voice can be an adjustment, but the deeper you go, the more this style begins to feel like the norm, with very little standing between you and the artist. This is an interesting direction that H.Pe’s taken and worth checking out!
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