Lee’s Listening Stack: Hungrytown-‘Any Forgotten Thing’
Hungrytown
Any Forgotten Thing
Listen Here! Records
With their new album – their second credited to their combined moniker of Hungrytown – husband/wife duo Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson continue to make modern folk songs that bow entirely to age-old mores. Sweet sentiments, lithe arrangements and beguiling harmonies kindle a sense of lofty nostalgia and homegrown circumspect, with enough wide-eyed innocence to mute any hint of pretension. Precious but precise, Hall and Anderson’s tranquil melodies and beguiling delivery charm from the get-go, with amber tones and a back porch perspective that is both seamless and restrained. Anderson’s agile arrangements provide a tender touch, and his remarkable affinity for instrumental embellishment finds him tastefully overlapping mandolin, organ, harmonica, glockenspiel, banjo, accordion and percussion atop Hall’s lilting vocals and beguiling ballads. There’s no shortage of lovely material, all of which adheres to a traditional template. Consequently, the dainty “Sally Lazy” and an infectious “Make It All Work Out” are compelling reasons for repeated listens, while closing track “The Sweetest Flower,” sung a capella, confirms those dreamy designs. Naturally then, Any Forgotten Thing will likely be remembered for what it really is… a sepia-tinted patchwork of tender and reverent Americana. – Lee Zimmerman
Lee Zimmerman is a contributor to a variety of publications, including Blurt, M Music & Musicians, New Times, Goldmine and Amplifier