(Strange Feeling)

The new black

Hungarian slo-core pop trio the Unbending Trees were discovered by Everything But The Girl’s Ben Watt after the latter browsed upon their MySpace page; he was so taken with the Trees’ haunting sound he signed them to Strange Feeling, the sister imprint of his label Buzzin’ Fly. The UK exposure has lent the band a wide exposure in their home country, getting their songs extensive radio play and sending them all the way into MTV Hungary’s Top 10. On the Unbending Trees’ debut album Chemically Happy (Is The New Sad), vocalist Kristof Hajos broods like Nick Cave circa The Boatman’s Call in an even deeper voice, telling of loves gained and lost. Classically trained pianist Havasi provides delicate ivory touches while bassist/programmer Peter Hary adds gloriously sinister string arrangements. Opener You Are A Lover is a cinematic piano ballad – think Bela Lugosi as Dracula confessing to his victim he loves her. Overture, featuring the instantly recognisable vocals of Everything But The Girl’s ice maiden Tracey Thorn, is the album’s standout – a slow-burning, lump-in-the-throat duet ending on a faint glimmer of hope. The CD ends with a chilling rendition of Szomoru Vasarnap, a famed Hungarian “suicide song” known in the West as Gloomy Sunday. If you like the idea of Scott Walker on Prozac jamming in Leonard Cohen’s basement, this is just what the doctor prescribed.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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