To A Loved One

Front-loaded with catchy guitar pop, Hello Kavita's latest, To A Loved One, builds on the long tradition of folksy rock 'n' roll. Opener “I’m Not” matches swelling strings with crunchy, distorted guitar to achieve a scope that's almost cinematic, while singer Corey Teruya’s vocal melodies recall ’90s-era Teenage Fanclub—an iconoclastic band, like Hello Kavita, that stayed close to traditional rock 'n' roll while grunge and pop-punk took over the mainstream.

Slower, more mellow folk songs populate the back half of the album, compositions centered around finger-picked acoustic strings, pedal steel, and ’70s-style ballad piano. These slightly more stripped-down tracks put Teruya's lyrics under a brighter light, and it's not always kind, especially when he relies on clichés or easy rhymes. It's the latter in “Motion” when he sings, “If we try our best, in time we'll find our rest,” before adding some welcome cynicism with “I hope that's true, 'cause it hasn't happened yet." "Colorado" condemns one place in favor of another ("California had its day"), but too often, Teruya's lyrics drift into the realm of cliché.

While it blazes no new trails, Loved One’s instrumentation is full enough and warm enough to warrant repeat listens. “Sunday (It's A Chrome Tide)” is awash in chiming guitars fed through delay pedals, sunny organs, and a bouncy vocal melody that sounds like a trip to the beach, before a post-rock guitar line portends stormier skies. “Colorado,” with its steady kick drum and shimmering cymbals, feels like a ride through the Rocky Mountains, building a musical landscape that's majestic, expansive, and bright with promise. Unfolding slowly like the Colorado described in the song, To A Loved One is full of musical nooks and crannies that beg further exploration.