Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions – Until the Hunter – Album Review by Killian Laher

Hope Sandoval is certainly not a woman in a rush. Although this album with the Warm Inventions, her band with My Bloody Valentine’s Colm Ó Cíosóig, is a mere three years after her own last outing with Mazzy Star, it’s seven years after the last Warm Inventions album, the underwhelming Through The Devil Softly.

Little tends to change in the world of this band, nor would you want it to. The album misfires initially, with the ill-advised sub-Doors nine minute drone Into The Trees which threatens to sink the album before it even begins. It could certainly do a fair job of keeping the uninitiated from delving further into the album. Thankfully the ship is righted with the lazy, countrified drawl of The Peasant. Like much of Sandoval’s best work, instrumentation is used sparingly, a little guitar and keyboard here and there, and not much else, allowing one of the finer voices in music to take centre stage.

Let Me Get There features a duet with Kurt Vile and their voices combine effortlessly on one of the strongest tracks on the album, a lazy, breathy sixties-style throwback, complete with understated organ and magnificent guitar touches. The gloriously simple guitar picking of Day Disguise follows, featuring a gorgeous steel guitar briefly, yet devastatingly midway through. Equally strong is the slow, drifting Treasure which sits prettily in the middle of the album, not doing an awful lot, yet remarkably easy on the ears, while more stripped down moments such as The Hiking Song which, though mainly guitar and voice, midway through features the most gorgeous violin. Salt of the Sea is a swaying, swooning ballad, with a fine line in xylophone.

At times Sandoval’s delivery threatens to get a little too precious for its own good (A Wonderful Seed, the handclap-enhanced I Took A Slip) but apart from the folly of the opening track, the instruments keep things on an even keel.

It’s not quite up there with 2001’s imperious Bavarian Fruit Bread, but it’s a definite return to form, showing there’s (just a little) life in Sandoval and co still. A drowsy delight.

Track List:

1. Into The Trees
2. The Peasant
3. A Wonderful Seed
4. Let Me Get There
5. Day Disguise
6. Treasure
7. Salt of the Sea
8. The Hiking Song
9. Isn’t It True
10. I Took A Sip
11. Liquid Lady

Let Me Get There: